A COMPULSORY Purchase Order signed by the town clerk known as the father of modern Swindon has been discovered in the Adver’s archives.

The order signed by David Murray John was the culmination of a planning wrangle more than six decades ago.

It shows that rows over school sites in Swindon have been with us for longer than most people remember. It’s also a reminder of the days when much of what is now urban and suburban Swindon was farmland, woods and meadows.

Following the Second World War, new regulations meant schools had to offer minimum accommmodation standards for pupils.

The infants, junior and secondary schools in Pinehurst were among those affected, with the total roll capped at 1,140 and the minimum space requirement set at 10 acres, plus almost another 22 acres for playing fields. The existing site covered only five-and-a-half acres, which was bad news for a market gardener called Willie Thomas Groves.

Mr Groves, who lived in Whitworth Road, was told in 1946 that he faced losing more than 15 acres of land to the south of that road, and his objection prompted a public inquiry at the Civic Offices on Wednesday, March 26, 1947.

The written record of the inquiry, bundled with the order, says: “The claimant has been a Justice of the Peace for 17 years until he retired recently and is prominently connected with the work of the County War Agricultural Executive Committee and a number of horticultural and fruit and vegetable distributive organisations, to all of which he gives his services voluntarily.

“There are upon the land in his occupation two heated greenhouses, cold frames and, as previously mentioned, the foundation for a further greenhouse and a garage.

“He produces general market garden produce and bedding plants, has three retail rounds and is anxious to continue his business on behalf of a son whom he employs.

“The son is aged 30, a mechanic by trade but because of a disability which affects his hearing has been employed by his father for two years as it is better for him to follow an outdoor occupation.”

Mr Groves said he and his son couldn’t be expected to support themselves on the acre-and-a-half of land that would be left if the compulsory purchase went ahead, and called as a witness Henry Penfold, a former head gardener at Westonbirt.

“Mr Penfold,” said the report, “is of the opinion that a man and his son could not make a living on the area which would be left to him if the Order is confirmed.”

Mr Groves’ appeal was unsuccessful, but the bundle of documents includes a statement of accounts that tells us his business survived until at least 1952, when it made a gross profit of £5,412, 16 shillings and sixpence.

The old Pinehurst Secondary School survived until the early 1980s, while the infants and junior school buildings remained until 2009, when they were demolished to make way for the £35m Swindon Academy.

David Murray John died in 1974, having been town clerk for 37 years.

If anybody knows more about Mr Groves and his later life, we’d love to hear from them.