 |
| Churchill Close |
Churchill Close is a close of two stretches, with a main close and then a close that forks off about half way. It was constructed in the 1960s as a development of semi-detached and terraced houses with separate garage blocks.
Likely, named as it leads up a small hill towards the rear of Holy Trinity church. Alternatively, for Winston Churchill, the British politician who led our country to victory as Prime Minister during the Second World War. He was also prime minister from 1951 to 1952, shortly before this development was built.
In March 2004, residents of Churchill Close finally won their battle for remedial work to reconstitute land that had subsided from their back gardens. While the land belongs to North Wiltshire District Council, they didn't accept liability[1], however they did put aside around £650,000 to tackle the issue. This included strengthening the land behind the houses, allowing the boundaries to be reinstated, in addition each property was given 1 additional metre of land. This was retained by a wooden crib-lock wall that was tied in to steel poles. The project to resolve this issue began in July 2005 and was expected to complete by October that year - putting an end to 8 years of misery[2]. The work was completed under planning application, N/04/03494/FUL.
There is also an interesting heritage assessment that was compiled in support of a planning application for development off Silver Street, that suggests Churchill Close could be the nucleus of a Romano-British settlement[3]. With pottery, Iron objects, brooches, and numerous coins being found in the gardens of London Road and Churchill Close, perhaps the case could be made for an organised dig to make sense of this site.
References:
[1] The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. 2019. Council set to take action on subsidence | The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/7283721.council-set-to-take-action-on-subsidence/. [Accessed 08 August 2019].
[2] The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. 2019. Work begins to restore disappearing gardens | The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/7244216.work-begins-to-restore-disappearing-gardens/. [Accessed 08 August 2019].
[3] Land at Silver Street, Calne, Wiltshire - Heritage Assessment. 2016. Context One Archaeological Services Ltd.
