In the 1840s the speculators and developers flocked to New Swindon to make a quick profit from meeting the need for more housing.

Then as now mortgage lenders arrived who were delighted to lend money to prospective purchasers and developers .

This was quite a sophisticated operation for its day and it is hard to imagine but speculation in that period was very similar to what we experience today in Swindon. Economic problems in America caused a depression that crashed their real estate prices and closed down several banks.

This created an investment opportunity in England and, as it was the late 1840s before America started to recover, Swindon was a speculators’ dream at this time as the GWR sucked in money and paid good wages to retain senior and highly skilled staff.

One of the first private developments undertaken was Falcon Terrace, where the Falcon pub is, in Westcott Place.

When you look carefully these properties look similar to other railway properties.

They were made from Swindon stone and Bath stone. A later edition to the terrace was made at the north, but Falcon Terrace, apart from modern refinements, remains today much as it did in 1849 when it was originally built by speculators.

The first building society established in Wiltshire, The Wilts Equitable Property Society And Savings Fund was floated and it became permanent in 1849. By 1855 there was a branch here in Swindon.

Developers built the properties and some offered the mortgages, as well.

The nearer to the works they were the more expensive each plot or property was.

Speculators were offering sweeteners, like paying the property tax for the purchaser, nothing much has changed since then as speculators are doing exactly the same today in and around Swindon.

Vast quantities of building materials had been brought in by barge on the Wilts and Berks Canal.

They were unloaded at wharves along the canal and a new one was constructed at Golden Lion Bridge to help ease this bottleneck.

Soon the materials would come by rail, which reduced the costs, which was fortunate as Swindon went into a bust period in 1857.

Again its roots were in America when the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company banks in America collapsed.

Swindon was soon affected.

Staff were laid off and works manager Minard Rea died of tuberculosis at the young age of 35.

The Swindon Advertiser covered the funeral and wrote in detail about the works and town being closed.

The funeral cortège consisted of of 870 workmen all dressed in black, who carried the coffin and walked beside it.

His death left a cloud over Swindon, especially as he had seen through the development of the Mechanics’ Institute into central facility underpinning the New Swindon Community. In 1860 a boom time was again dawning on Swindon and houses were springing up along Bridge Street and hamlets began to form at Fleet Street and Westcott Place.

Towards the end of 1861 another housing crisis was looming and it is interesting that the 1861 Census shows a 69 per cent increase in the population of New Swindon.

Almost 7,000 people lived in Swindon, with just over 4,000 living in New Swindon.