Fairford Park
From the 1870s agriculture in this country was in recession, in the late 19th Century the Raymond-Barkers who owned
Fairford Park were feeling the pinch, they sold off some of the land, moved their home to Tetbury and Stowell Park and
let Fairford Park. Fairford was fortunate in having Colonel Albert Palmer as a tenant as he was heavily involved with
the life in the town acting as ‘squire’ for the next 40 years. In 1939 Reginald Raymond Barker died. During the war
it was the site of an American Military Hospital and then a Polish Resettlement Camp. In 1945 the estate was sold to
Ernest Cook, a former director of the Thomas Cook travel company. He tried to sell the house to the National Trust
but eventually it was purchased by Gloucestershire County Council and was demolished in 1955. Farmor’s School,
Fairford Sports Centre, Fairford Primary and School and Fairford Pre-school are now on the site thus providing
educational facilities from 3 -18 and beyond.
|
The obelisk |
