23/06/2022

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧, 𝐨𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐟, 𝐚 𝐁𝐨𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐧𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐚?

As part of the Calne Community Neighbourhood Plan, we are attempting to map all of the buildings constructed by the Bowood Estate.

We would like to do this to ensure that these buildings are recognised by developers and other stakeholders for their significance to our Community Area. We would also like them to be considered as heritage assets due to the important contribution that they make to the distinctive local character of our Community Area.

 

The houses were built by the Bowood Estate, mainly during the 1800s, as houses for employees and retirees of the Estate. A common design of the stone-built houses are the red bricks used for window surrounds, door frame, and corners, with a prime example being number 82 at the Studley crossroads. However, the earlier houses are purely stone.

 

The majority of the houses were built at Derry Hill and Studley, which was the principal estate village until the mid-1900s. There are examples further out from the Bowood Estate, which show the influence the Estate had on the wider Calne area.

Many of the houses have the ‘Double L’ date stones in the front of the building, often in the gable, like the one in the attached photographs. There may be variations of this design, while some may not have the stone.

If you are able to, please head over to our interactive map to see assets already added, and to add those that you’re aware of:
https://www.placecheck.info/app2/maps/calneheritage

Alternatively, contact me directly.

 

Unfortunately, the Bowood Estate does not have information on the houses, but think that there may well be around 100 in the area.

06/06/2022

Book Launch: C&T Harris (Calne), An Illustrated History by Dee La Vardera

Dee La Vardera is releasing her C&T Harris book this Saturday at Calne Heritage Centre.

Pop along to between 10am and 12:30pm to check out the book and meet the author.

For more info:
https://amzn.to/3qaSK7f


01/06/2022

Place Names of Calne: Regent Park

Regent Park.
So named as it is an extension of Prince Charles Drive. Prince Charles, it is rumoured, will be made Prince Regent when The Queen reaches the age of 95. This has precedent in the early 1800s when King George III was unable to carry out his duties, with Prince George (future King George IV) being made regent to take over the King's responsibilities[1].

The Regency Act tends to only be acted upon in case of illness and as it is currently worded would only allow Prince Charles to be Regent until The Queen is able to return to her duties, not for abdication. While the Act could be changed, there has been no official comment regarding this situation, making it unlikely that The Queen is currently considering abdication in 2021.

A street naming request for this development was discussed by the Town Development and Planning committee, with a range of options noted as being discussed. With Calne being a 'town of discovery' it was decided to name the streets of this development after scientists that discovered chemical elements.

This 6.7 hectare greenfield site development was initially refused planning permission by Wiltshire Council in March 2016. However, buy June 2016, the Secretary of State allowed an appeal, which led to planning permission being granted as the site was in a sustainable location. Planning permission was gained by Robert Hitchens, upon permission being granted the site was sold to Persimmon, who developed the site.

Cavendish Close
Henry Cavendish (1731-1810), discovered hydrogen in 1766, which he named inflammable gas. It was later named Hydrogen in 1783 by Antoine Lavoisier, who had conversed with Joseph Priestley about what would end up being known as Oxygen in 1774, and named it as such in 1777[2].

Davy Drive
Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829) was one of the leading scientists of his time. in 1807 Davy isolated, for the first time, potassium and sodium. In 1808, Davy reported to the Royal Society that he had isolated four new metals. He called them barium, calcium, magnium (now known as magnesium), and strontium. While chlorine was discovered in 1774 by Carl Willhelm Scheele, he had thought it contained oxygen and named it "dephlogisticated marine acid". Davy proved that wasn't the case and in 1810 gave the element the name chlorine[3].

Ramsay Road 
Sir William Ramsay (1852-1916) received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904, which recognised "his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air", these inert gaseous elements are otherwise known as the noble gases. Ramsay, working with others, discovered argon, neon, krypton, and xenon. He also isolated helium, which had previously not been found on earth, and isolated radon[4].

Rutherford Close
Rutherford Close 
In 1772 Daniel Rutherford (1749-1819) isolated what he called "noxious air", these days this chemical element is known as nitrogen. Between 1786 and 1819 Rutherford was a professor of botany at the University of Edinburgh and the 5th Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh[5].

Travers Close
Morris William Travers (1872-1961), worked with Sir William Ramsey when they discovered neon, krypton, and xenon. He also assisted Ramsey in determining the properties of argon and helium. While Travers went on to have a successful career, his time with Sir William Ramsey must have meant a great deal, as he penned A Life of Sir William Ramsay, published in 1956, just a few years before his own death[6].

References:
[1] Royal Central. 2019. Will The Queen make Charles Prince Regent when she turns 95? – Royal Central. [ONLINE] Available at: https://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/queen/will-the-queen-make-charles-prince-regent-when-she-turns-95-115591/. [Accessed 28 August 2019]. 
[2] Wikipedia. 2019. Henry Cavendish - Wikipedia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Cavendish#Chemistry_research. [Accessed 28 August 2019].
[3] Wikipedia. 2019. Humphry Davy - Wikipedia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphry_Davy#Discovery_of_calcium,_magnesium,_strontium_and_barium. [Accessed 28 August 2019].
[4] Wikipedia. 2019. William Ramsay - Wikipedia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ramsay. [Accessed 28 August 2019]. 
[5] Wikipedia. 2019. Daniel Rutherford - Wikipedia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Rutherford. [Accessed 28 August 2019]. 
[6] Wikipedia. 2019. Morris Travers - Wikipedia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Travers. [Accessed 28 August 2019].