Description

In the entries for:-

SWINDON
SU 1484 NW RODBOURNE ROAD
BREL: Swindon Works
5/147 No 12 Shop (V. Shop)
18.5.84
GV II*
--------------------------------------------
and:-
SU 1484 NW SWINDON RODBOURNE ROAD
BREL: Swindon Works
5/151 O and E Shop.
(32, 33 and 35
18.5.54 Shops)
GV II
--------------------------------------------

the entries shall be combined into one entry (at Grade II*) and
amended to read as follows:-

SU 1484 NW SWINDON RODBOURNE ROAD
BREL: Swindon Works
5/147 No 12 shop (V shop) and O and E shop
(32, 3 3 and 35 shops )
18.5.54
GV II*

Locomotive building works. 1874, extended c1879, c1885 and 1924.
Iron-framed with red brick exterior walls with limestone ashlar and
yellow brick dressings; multi-gabled Welsh slate roofs with glazed
clerestories and glazed timber-framed gable ends.
PLAN AND DEVELOPMENT: T-shaped plan has 50-bay east facade and extends
30 bays to Rodbourne Road on west side; the front (east) block was 8
bays deep to the south of the 'T' and 6 bays to the north while the
broad stem of the 'T' was a single working space 24 bays long and 18
bays wide below 6 roofing ranges. The front range contained brass
foundry and turning shops at the southern end, machine shops for
cylinders and frames flanking a wide entrance bay and the hydraulic
power centre with an accumulator tower at the extreme northern end. The
stem of the 'T' was the locomotive erecting shop and boiler shop.
The stem as broadened to the north by 8 bays (structurally 3,3 and 2)
c1879 and to the south by 6 bays c1885 and by 3 bays c1924.
EXTERIOR: One storey. The west facade facing Rodbourne Road is a long
brick frontage with arched openings. East facade articulated by yellow
brick semi-circular arches with limestone keys and impost mouldings;
segmental-arched windows, set within inner arches, over C20 windows and
late C19 horned 10/10-pane sashes; moulded cornice. Similar 8-bay south
end wall; north end wall rebuilt C20. Plain south-facing facade of 1924
extension has segmental-arched sashes and cast-iron casements with
opening lights.
INTERIOR: No 12 Shop has cast-iron columns in two tiers, the lower
heavier ones carrying crane gantry beams and brackets for line shafting;
columns support a wrought iron and glazed roof structure; there is a
surviving 20-ton crane, now electrified, with chain hoist, made up of an
inverted iron structure. Rest of 1874 structure has 2 rows of cast-iron
columns supporting wrought-iron roof construction. 19 tall columns in
each row, with large brackets to support travelling gantry cranes and.
have pierced cast-iron girders spanning between the columns for fixing
machinery, tools etc.
This building formed the centrepiece of the large-scale expansion of the
GWR works in the 1870's and an extremely impressive industrial structure
of the period. One of an important group of Victorian industrial
buildings of the GWR works. Hooters on north-east side are claimed to
have been those of the SS Great Britain.
Formerly listed as items 147 and 151-.

Listing NGR: SU1409284876

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17549083

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
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  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability