Monument record 3884/75 - Swanspool Gardens, London Road

{1} Swanspool gardens remain intact as public parkland, number of small buildings, statues and sporting facilities (tennis ground and bowling greens) throughout the park; including recreational building with changing rooms etc facing on to London Road.

{2} The name Swanspool is taken from the small brook that can be seen to the front of the house. It is known that the abbot at Croyland started a swan farm on the brook at some point in the 13th century, because it is first mentioned in the monastic account books in 1289-90. During the Middle Ages, the mute swan was considered to be a valuable commodity and was regularly traded between noblemen. As well as being a good source of food, the wings were used as hearth brushes, the wing bones for whistles, the webs for purses and the feathers for quills.
Swanspool House was built sometime in the latter half of the 18th century, since a datestone to the rear of the house shows 1759, while another from the main chimney shows a date of 1799. The house was owned by four generations of Sharman family, who were shoemakers in the town. Samuel Sharman was described as the ‘contractor for the army and wholesale manufacturer of shoes’ in Bailey’s British Directory of 1784. Apparently the business was first conducted in an old building ‘adjoining Swanspool House’, then by the 1840s transferred to a specially built factory in Sheep Street, known as the Trafalgar Works (Archer 1927). It is possible that the early factory is shown to the left of the main house on an etching by George Clarke, which was drawn in the mid 19th century (Plate 2).
The earliest map showing the house is from 1838 but, although it shows the house and adjacent walled garden, it does not show any detail of the gardens. Indeed, the land to the south of the house is still known as Crowtree Close and Swanspool Road Close, meaning it was still being used as farmland, although it probably belonged to the Sharman family.
A number of Mulberry trees were planted in the area in the late 18th or early 19th century. They were planted to provide food for silkworms, since a small silk producing industry had been started. There was a small factory in the Swanspool area in 1826 for the throwing and winding of slk’ (Wellingborough Pictorial Trade Record 1912). By the early 1840s there is no further mention of silk being produced in the town.
Nathaniel Sharman was born in Swanspool House in 1827 and continued to live there until his death in 1918. The estate was put up for sale by his executors in 1919 and was described by the auctioneers as comprising a substantial residence known as Swanspool, situated in its own beautiful grounds with excellent stabling, greenhouses, farm premises and 49 acres of rich feeding pasture and arable land. Although the estate was bought by Wellingborough Council with the intention of reselling some of the property and building 250 houses on the remainder of the land, the public thought that the house should become an museum or art gallery. F.C. Chamberlain, who like the Sharman family owned a boot and shoe factory, offered to buy the estate and for it to be maintained ‘for the use and benefit of the town as a pleasure resort now and for all time.’
In the Wellingborough News of 13th June 1919, there is a description of the first day opening to the public:
Before 3 o’clock there was a delightful scene amidst the trees, shrubs and flowers of Swanspool. The extent of the crowd was amazing. People swarmed here and there, on the lawns, by the geranium beds, on the banks and pathways overlooking the stream, and along the cool tree-sheltered walks. Visitors were to be counted by the thousand, ranging from the dainty little group of brightly-befrocked maidens, the comfortable couples on the small, green-painted seats, and the groups of quietly admiring people of more advanced years, to the impassable masses of humanity crowding along the pathways or the more inquisitive men and women who entered the house in great numbers on a tour of inspection.
Two photographs that were taken shortly after the estate was gifted to the town show how the house was very closely surrounded by a great many trees that have now largely been lost (Plates 3 and 4). After 1919, more amenities were introduced, with the construction of bowling greens, putting greens and tennis courts; however, much the charm of the original garden was retained and many of the 18th and 19th century trees still survive. These include a Ginkgo Biloba or Maidenhead tree which is shown in a photograph daring to the 1880s and is the tallest recorded specimen in Northamptonshire. The Ginkgo is one of the world’s oldest trees, having lived on earth for around 150 million years. A bronze statue of Euterpe, the Greek muse of music, with her lyre was erected in 1932; however, it was stolen in the 1950s and now only the plinth remains.
The Sports Pavilion was constructed in 1929-1930 and for many years had a fountain that stood in front of it. This was ‘Jotto Pages’ fountain which was presented to the town by Cllr. James Page in 1903 to commemorate the Coronation of King Edward VII. It stood in the Markey Square until 1925, before it was moved and re-erected in the gardens. In later years it was moved again to the entrance of the Gardens.
Recent additions to the Gardens include the planting of the Anne Frank tree, which is the focus for the Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations which are held each year. The large rose garden at the back of the park was planted to celebrate the millennium.

<1> Ballinger J., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Wellingborough (Industrial), (unchecked) (Digital archive). SNN100290.

<2> Walker C., 2006, Documentary Research for Wellingborough Green Heritage Trail, 2.3 Swanspool Gardens (checked) (Report). SNN108005.

Record last edited

Feb 19 2015 12:00PM