Pub
Arkell's
The Duke of Edinburgh, Swindon
Gorse Hill
Host
THIS PUB IS CLOSED
Where
Cricklade Road,
Gorse Hill,
Swindon,
Wiltshire
SN2 1AE
Tel
N/A
SORRY, THIS PUB IS CURRENTLY CLOSED.
The Duke of Edinburgh has been serving beer for over 150 years.
Now this popular pub is the home of darts in Swindon, with former PDC Professional player Mark Thomson behind the bar providing well-kept ales and playing the odd game himself when any one of 23 resident teams are short.
A little bit of history
The Duke of Edinburgh looks like it has grown out of the end of a row of terraced houses - and that, more or less, is what happened.
The terrace is called Tabernacle Terrace after Tabernacle Farm which once stood nearby and when it opened as an old-fashioned beerhouse in 1859, the pub was, not surprisingly, called The Tabernacle. Until the early 1870s it occupied the end part of the terrace, but Arkell's bought the adjoining land in order to build a brand new pub. The licence was transferred from the original pub on 7th October, 1874, although it is now incorporated into the current premises and is still joined to the terrace.
The building cost £1200, a sizeable sum in those days, though if the visitor takes time to look at the outside it is seen to be a large and imposing structure in an area otherwise characterised by redbrick housing in Cricklade Road and the rest of Gorse Hill.
Despite outside appearances, 'The Duke' is one of Arkell's more down-to-earth pubs, still popular with workers on their way home during the week and it is still easy enough to imagine how the pub was in earlier days when Swindon's trams trundled past.
The Duke of Edinburgh has been serving beer for over 150 years.
Now this popular pub is the home of darts in Swindon, with former PDC Professional player Mark Thomson behind the bar providing well-kept ales and playing the odd game himself when any one of 23 resident teams are short.
A little bit of history
The Duke of Edinburgh looks like it has grown out of the end of a row of terraced houses - and that, more or less, is what happened.
The terrace is called Tabernacle Terrace after Tabernacle Farm which once stood nearby and when it opened as an old-fashioned beerhouse in 1859, the pub was, not surprisingly, called The Tabernacle. Until the early 1870s it occupied the end part of the terrace, but Arkell's bought the adjoining land in order to build a brand new pub. The licence was transferred from the original pub on 7th October, 1874, although it is now incorporated into the current premises and is still joined to the terrace.
The building cost £1200, a sizeable sum in those days, though if the visitor takes time to look at the outside it is seen to be a large and imposing structure in an area otherwise characterised by redbrick housing in Cricklade Road and the rest of Gorse Hill.
Despite outside appearances, 'The Duke' is one of Arkell's more down-to-earth pubs, still popular with workers on their way home during the week and it is still easy enough to imagine how the pub was in earlier days when Swindon's trams trundled past.
