Knee's Van Passing Springfield House Gates

Springfield House on Hilperton Road, Trowbridge, had become dilapidated and was demolished in 1958 to make way for new housing. Only these gates and their piers remain at the town end of Springfield Park.
The house was built in the Italianate style circa 1840 by a wealthy woollen manufacturer, William Stancomb, who was Lord of the Manor. He also built Trowbridge Market House, of which only the facade now survives, and serves as the portico for Castle Place shopping centre and a Wetherspoon’s pub. Stancomb later moved to an even grander home at Blount’s Court, Potterne, but his name lives on in a street nearby these gates.
The sad fate of Springfield House may yet be repeated for Knees of Trowbridge, whose van is passing the gates in the photograph. Earlier this year (2014) they closed their iconic department store in the centre of town and relocated on a smaller scale to an out-of-town shopping park. Arguably this has had a greater effect on the townspeople than the conspicuous display of the enormous wealth of the late William Stancomb.
Sigma 15-30mm F3.5-4.5 EX DG Aspherical DF lens on a Nikon D90.