Farms and Farming Families in Lydiard Tregoze

The parish of Lydiard Tregoze contained a number of medium-sized farms. Consisting of pasture and dairy farming, the main produce was cheese and butter.

Farms including Wick, Marsh, Windmill Leaze, East Leaze, Hook, and Shaw belonged to the St.John estate, but mounting debts led to the decline of the estate with parts being sold by Lady Bolingbroke in 1920 and again in the 1930s. The remaining farmland was sold by auction in 1943 following her ladyship's death.

In 2021 The Friends of Lydiard Park launched The Lydiard Tregoze Family History Project which has allowed us to digitise a large number of privately owned photographs and documents, thanks to the generosity of local families. From family snaps to tenancy agreements, prize animals to childhood tales, the collection is a growing legacy to the vibrant rural community of Lydiard Tregoze.

The stories of some of the people who owned, lived, or worked on the farms in the twentieth century have been told in a remarkable series of memoirs and diaries, while the history of the farms and its workers before this time can be found in documents such as wills and parish records.


Read more +
Farms and Farming Families in Lydiard Tregoze

Featured Items

Photographs (2) of Windmill Leaze Farm (Park Farm) Lydiard Tregoze, 1890's
Photographs (2) of Windmill Leaze Farm (Park Farm) Lydiard Tregoze, 1890's

Rare late Victorian photograph of Windmill Leaze F...

Photograph of Arthur Wheeler, Hook Farm, Lydiard Tregoze c1930
Photograph of Arthur Wheeler, Hook Farm, Lydiard Tregoze c1930

Arthur Wheeler, seen here carrying buckets of eggs...

Photograph of haymaking at Lydiard Park, c1846
Photograph of haymaking at Lydiard Park, c1846

Copy of an exceptionally rare image of haymaking i...

1923 Diary of Elliot Woolford of Hook Farm, Lydiard Tregoze
1923 Diary of Elliot Woolford of Hook Farm, Lydiard Tregoze

1923Two big changes in the Woolford family ta...

Photographs (2) of Lower Hook Farm, Lydiard Tregoze c1985
Photographs (2) of Lower Hook Farm, Lydiard Tregoze c1985

Lower Hook Farm on Hook Street, Lydiard Tregoze is...

Farms in Lydiard Tregoze by Frances Bevan
Farms in Lydiard Tregoze by Frances Bevan

An account of five Lydiard Tregoze Farms and their...

Photograph of Creeches Farm, Hook,  late 19th Century
Photograph of Creeches Farm, Hook, late 19th Century

Creeches Farm became part of the Lydiard estate wh...

Inventory and Valuation - Park Farm, Lydiard Tegoze, 1916
Inventory and Valuation - Park Farm, Lydiard Tegoze, 1916

'Inventory and Valuation of live and dead farming...

Nightdress, 1924
Nightdress, 1924

A cream flannelette nightdress made by Mabel Alic...

Photograph of Haymaking on Lower Hook Farm, c1920's
Photograph of Haymaking on Lower Hook Farm, c1920's

Professional photograph taken during haymaking on...

Photographs (10) of Rumming family at Park Farm, Lydiard Tregoze, 1930s
Photographs (10) of Rumming family at Park Farm, Lydiard Tregoze, 1930s

A group of family snapshots showing members of the...

Cheese Moulds, Lower Salthrop Farm (c1890-1910)
Cheese Moulds, Lower Salthrop Farm (c1890-1910)

Two wooden truckle cheddar cheese moulds with iron...