Historic Swindon pubs put up for sale by Arkell's brewery

The Boundary House in Moredon and the Duke of Edinburgh in Gorse Hill closed their doors last year, with their respective landlords announcing their departure. 

The two local boozers are owned by Swindon brewery Arkell's and the company has been unable to find new tenants to take them on. 

'For sale' signs have popped up on both buildings and the brewery has confirmed its intentions to offload the pubs from its portfolio. 

A statement from Arkell's chairman James Arkell said: "It is with much regret that since Covid has accelerated the demise of these two pubs. 

The Duke of Edinburgh, Gorse Hill, Swindon, is up for sale (Image: Newsquest)

"The downward pressure of overheads and other costs have made them uneconomical for a management or tenanted public house. They have been with Arkell’s for many years and it is with great regret that it has come to this."

The Boundary House closed in February 2022 with landlord Jeannine Vernon Lewis, who had managed the pub for three years, writing on its Facebook page: "Pub closed down, sad day, Moredon you should have supported your local. Now it's gone."

The Boundary House is one of Arkell's oldest pubs and was built sometime before 1861.

The pub was first called The Red Lion and the premises also featured a brewery and a butcher's shop.

It once marked the boundary with the hamlet of Moredon, which had long since been absorbed as a suburb of Swindon when it was re-christened The Boundary House.

It was owned by the Slade family until 1877 when they sold it to Arkell's.

The Duke of Edinburgh's closure was announced in the same month but didn't actually close its doors until March 31, 2022. 

In an announcement on social media, landlords for over a decade Mark and Allyson Thomson, said: “Bittersweet day today. Arkell's agreed we could end our tenancy on March 31 which we are both ready for."

The Boundary House, Moredon, Swindon, has been placed up for sale (Image: Dave Cox)

The Duke of Edinburgh, on Cricklade Road, has been serving beers to locals for over 150 years. 

It started life as a terrace called Tabernacle Terrace after Tabernacle Farm which once stood nearby and when it opened as an old-fashioned beerhouse in 1859, the pub was, not surprisingly, called The Tabernacle. 

Until the early 1870s it occupied the end part of the terrace, but Arkell's bought the adjoining land in order to build a brand new pub.

The licence was transferred from the original pub on October 7, 1874.