The Mechanics' Institute

The Mechanics' Institute, Emlyn Square, Swindon

This former Mechanics' Institute is a landmark building of considerable historic significance in Swindon's Railway Village. Built between 1853 and 1855 by Edward Roberts of London, it was substantially enlarged between 1892 and 1893 by Brightwen Binyon.

The original building is constructed of limestone rubble with ashlar quoins and dressings, rising two storeys with a raised central hall and theatre. It displays Gothic Revival styling. The ground floor accommodated a library and reading room, coffee room, mess room and baths, with the principal entrance to the north facing the railway works and a rear octagonal market hall (opened 1855 but now replaced). The façade features triple segmental-headed painted entrances between buttresses, set within a two-storey forebuilding. Above these are cross windows. Flanking the forebuilding are octagonal crenellated corner towers with slated spires and louvred lanterns, which return to square form at ground level and feature Tudor-arched lights. Clocks are set in the parapets. Behind the forebuilding rises a large Perpendicular-style window to the hall gable, with side buttresses and triple lights. Attached to the sides are later flat-roofed single-storey buildings with Tudor glazing and entrance doors, with hipped slated corner canopies carried on bracketed cast-iron columns. Octagonal flanking lantern towers mark the south end of the hall.

The major 1892 enlargement to the south adopts Jacobethan styling in coursed rock-faced rubble with slate roofs. This section rises two storeys with end gables containing Tudor three-light windows and carved quatrefoils. The recessed three-bay centre features a central Tudor door with a recessed glazed gallery at first-floor level. Four-light dormers and a louvred lantern crown the composition. The side elevations display projecting gables and halls with chamfered two-storey Tudor-style windows and four dormers on each side. A central theatre fly tower was added in 1930 following a fire.

The interior of the later section contains various large rooms, including an imposing five-bay reading room with a segmental vaulted ceiling and part-panelled walls, with theatre dressing rooms above. The earlier first-floor assembly hall and theatre measures 76 feet by 40 feet and features moulded plaster decorative frieze and vaulted ceiling. The stage retains a semicircular replacement proscenium arch of 1930 in Art Deco style with moulded archivolt. A curving balcony with decorative front completes the theatrical space.

The institute was established by the Great Western Railway through a separate entity, the New Swindon Improvement Company, as a workers' welfare venture combining an institute, shops and market stalls to address the scarcity of fresh produce. The original market stalls were demolished in 1891 to accommodate the large addition, which reflects the institute's expanding role. For over a hundred years it provided an extensive range of classes and lectures for both men and women, with technical education playing a particularly important role in supporting apprentices and students through the railway works. The institute remains a unique surviving example of a railway company's social provision.