Southleaze Farmhouse set to be demolished

Plans have been submitted by Swindon Borough Council to its own planning department to demolish the farmhouse at Southleaze. The building, at the southern edge of The Orchards area of Wichelstowe, has become derelict in recent years.

The master plan for Wichelstowe had included the building as a community centre for West Wichel. But the application says vandalism and arson have led the roof to collapse, leaving the building unsafe and uneconomic to repair.

The farmhouse had been one of two old buildings in the area to be retained as part of the Wichelstowe development, with the other three demolished in 2008. Westlecott Farmhouse – under what is now Stonehenge Road and Ravensdale in East Wichel – was the first to be demolished, in February 2008 after a delay while some birds were roosting in the otherwise vacant building. West Leaze Farm Cottages – on Mill Lane under what is now the junction with Foxham Way – were demolished in April 2008. Southleaze Cottages – on Elcombe Lane under what is now The Orchards – were also demolished a few months later in 2008. The only one of the original buildings in the Wichelstowe development area to survive is Westlecott Farm Cottages, on the track between Stonehenge Road in East Wichel and Mill Lane in Old Town.

If the application is approved, the intention is to demolish Southleaze Farmhouse in October this year. The application, S/DEM/24/0967, can be viewed on Swindon Borough Council’s planning portal.

Update, Friday 27 September 2024: the application to demolish Southleaze Farmhouse has been approved by Swindon Borough Council’s planning department.