Blunsdon

Blunsdon
Chapel Hill, Blunsdon ca.1920
Blunsdon
Blunsdon shown within Wiltshire
Population	12,414 (parish, 2011)[1]
OS grid reference	SU154902
Civil parish	St Andrews Blunsdon
Unitary authority	Swindon
Ceremonial county	Wiltshire
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Swindon
Postcode district	SN25, SN26
Dialling code	01793
Police	Wiltshire
Fire	Dorset and Wiltshire
Ambulance	South Western
EU Parliament	South West England
UK Parliament	North Swindon
Website	Blunsdon St Andrew Parish Council

Broad Blunsdon is a village in the Borough of Swindon, England, about 4 miles (6 km) north of the centre of Swindon. Together with the nearby villages of Blunsdon St Andrew and adjoining Lower Blunsdon, the area is usually known simply as Blunsdon. The hamlet of Broadbush is now contiguous with Broad Blunsdon. The A419 dual carriageway divides the area into Blunsdon St Andrew to the west and Broad Blunsdon to the east.

Overview

During the 2001 census 2250 dwellings were registered in the civil parish of Blunsdon St Andrew, including the developments of St Andrews Ridge, Ash Brake, Oakhurst, Redhouse and Groundwell West which are suburbs of Swindon.

The village of Blunsdon St Andrew includes the ruins of Blunsdon Abbey, a Victorian mansion which was destroyed by fire in 1904. Although the property was insured, the death of Louisa Thomas, the mansion's owner, later that year, put an end to hopes of rebuilding. Among the items destroyed was a unique collection of Welsh manuscripts assembled by Rachel Thomas, mother of David Alfred Thomas, later Viscount Rhondda It has now been converted into a caravan park. The nearby large-scale development on the edge of Swindon was named Abbey Meads after Blunsdon Abbey. A former manor house and listed building nearby, known as The Grange, has been converted into apartments.

History

Blunsdon dates from Roman times: it was discovered that a Roman travellers’ resting place existed on the site of the present-day Cold Harbour public house. The main A419 road follow the course of a Roman road known as Ermin Street that linked the historic Roman towns of Gloucester (Glevum) and Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum), via Cirencester (Corinium). In 1086 it appears in the Domesday Book as Bluntesdone.

Sport

Blunsdon's Abbey Stadium is the home of speedway team the Swindon Robins. The Robins compete in the Elite League, with matches regularly televised live on Sky Sports. However, this was under threat in 2006 due to plans by developers to demolish the stadium and replace it with houses. The initial proposal was to build a smaller greyhound racing stadium elsewhere, not large enough to accommodate the highly popular speedway racing. A campaign led by the local media and supported by the people of Swindon and speedway supporters across the world persuaded the developers to include a speedway track, enabling the Robins to continue racing at Blunsdon.

The plans were at first recommended for refusal by the Council Officers due to various problems, mainly pertaining to housing. The developers agreed to take the plans away for adjustment and in May 2008 planning inspectors approved the new plans, which included 450 houses and office space.^[2]

The village has a football team, Blunsdon FC, which has youth development squads as well as a senior men's side playing in the Wiltshire League.

Local government

The area has two parish councils which form the first tier of local government. St Andrews parish, to the west, covers Blunsdon St Andrew, together with the suburbs north of Thamesdown Drive and east of Oakhurst Way, including Oakhurst, Redhouse, St Andrews Ridge and Ash Brake; and in the southeast, the area south of Thamesdown Drive which includes Groundwell West and the Abbey Meads Community Primary School.

Blunsdon parish covers Broad Blunsdon and the area west of the A419. In the southeast, the boundary with St Andrews leaves the A419 and follows the A4311 Cricklade Road, so that the Groundwell industrial estate is in Blunsdon parish.

Until April 2017, the whole area was the civil parish of Blunsdon St Andrew.^[3][4] The parishes lie within the Borough of Swindon.

Village shop

After the last privately owned shop in the village closed in 2002, a village public meeting convened and agreed to open a new community shop, which was opened in 2003.^[5] Located in the car park of the village hall, the shop was originally based inside a secondhand site office cabin, but in 2009 this was replaced by a brand new structure. Run mainly by volunteers, in 2010 the shop won third place for 'Best Village Shop' at the Wiltshire Life Magazine Awards ^[6]

Transport

The Swindon and Cricklade Railway has rebuilt Blunsdon railway station, just outside the parish boundary.

A419 bypass

A bypass was built between the autumn of 2006 and spring 2009. This has reunited Broad Blunsdon village with the portion that was southwest of the former A419.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blunsdon.