ABSTRACT
Two years ago, staff from the Swindon and Salisbury Offices of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England began a project to survey and research the surviving buildings making up the former Great Western Railway Works at Swindon. The project arose in response to moves to redevelop the site for commercial and retail uses, and the need to record the various workshop buildings prior to their conversion and, in some cases, demolition. Also, one of the most architecturally impressive buildings on the site, the former General Office building, has recently been refurbished as the Royal Commission’s new head office, and renamed the National Monuments Record Centre to underscore the organization’s role as the curator of the national archive on historic buildings and archaeological sites.
