Having featured the town of Chippenham in this series of Then and Now we bring it to a close with a look at Park Lane and the building that is at its junction with Marshfield Road The old West End Club.
Park Lane was originally called Little George Lane and was a narrow roadway leading through open country to the inn and to Old Road. In documents dated 1857, when the Rev Robert Ashe gave land for the building of St Paul's School, Park Lane is called Parish Road.
After the lane had been widened in 1893 it was renamed Park Lane. The Little George Inn, an 18th century Inn, at the top of the road burnt down in 1903. The present Little George was built on the site a few years later.
Our archive picture was taken around 1904 and shows what was the original building used by the West End Club in the foreground.
This building has survived, but it is no longer used by the club, which has moved to new premises nearby. In the background at the top of Park Lane, newly built, can be seen the spire of St Paul's Church.
This building is a familiar site to drivers making their way into Chippenham from the by-pass which takes them past the football club. In our previous series on Bradford on Avon, Trowbridge and Westbury there was a wealth of information of the towns.
But for our next series, when we move on to Melksham, there seems to be little written information and we would welcome any photographs and history from our readers.
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