Today you will be unlikely to hear the thwack of leather on willow in Faringdon Road Park where in 1844 the GWR bought a parcel of land west of the Railway Village, owned by Lt. Col Vilett.
In the early days the Cricket Ground was surrounded by a hedge and wooden palings and the GWR frequently had to issue warnings when their property was vandalised.
A notice published in June 1860 by Works Manager William Gooch announced – “I have again to caution, and call the attention of the Workmen to the damage done in the village by their Children, such as destroying trees in the Cricket Ground.”
Families faced severe penalties if their children were found to be the culprits. Gooch warned that the guilty boys "will not in future at any time be employed in the Works." If the offences were repeated the men risked losing not only their job but their home as well.
The GWR Cricket club, formed in 1847, shared the Cricket Field with teams representing other Shops in the railway works, even playing separate matches on the same day.
Star all-rounder was foundry worker John Laverick who as a 19 year-old moved to the GWR Works in 1866 from his home in Northumberland. He joined the cricket club the following year and scored 60 runs in his first innings played on the home ground.
In 1870 a match played at Bedminster's home ground saw batting legend W.G. Grace bowled out for a duck by Laverick.
During the club's heyday, when crowds averaged 1,000, team members included twin brothers Tom and George Hogarth who apparently caused the tetchy Dr. Grace some confusion when they played against him. Convinced that the GWR team had put the same man in to bat twice, the brothers had to stand side by side to settle the charge.
The GWR Company continued to develop the park, although sometimes at the expense of the cricket club, as Frederick Large notes in A Swindon Retrospect. “A bandstand having been erected by them almost in midfield of play rendered the playing of matches well nigh impossible ...”
After 63 years the club's career finally came to an end in 1910. Financial difficulties compounded by the high rent charged by the GWR on the Cricket Field saw the team selling off materials to pay debts.
In 1925 the park passed out of GWR ownership when the company entered into an 'exchange' with Swindon Corporation for land at Gorse Hill.
1870 - plans are drawn up for a Lodge on the eastern side of the New Swindon Cricket Field.
1871-72 Landscaping and formal gardens are laid out. Pavilion built on western side of the park, backing onto Park Lane. Fund raising events such as Penny Readings held at the Mechanics Institute to pay for these improvements.
Drill Hall built for the XI Wilts Rifle Corp - site now occupied by the TA Centre.
1881 census - Robert Matthews is head gardener and park keeper living at Park Lodge, Church Place.
1897 - railings and ornamental gates added.
1898 - plan for Bandstand submitted.
2010 - New railings erected around Faringdon Road Park
old postcard views of GWR Park courtesy of www.flickr.com/photos/swindonlocal/