EDITORIAL NOTE

The present volume, the ninth in the Wiltshire series to be published, has been prepared like the previous ones under the superintendence of the Wiltshire Victoria County History Committee. That committee, whose origin and constitution are described in the Editorial Note to the Victoria History of Wiltshire, Volume VII, has been good enough to continue, and indeed to enlarge, its generous grant. Consequently it was possible in 1968 to appoint a second assistant editor in addition to the editor and assistant editor already employed. The University has thus been able to continue publication and takes pleasure in renewing the expression of its gratitude to the participating authorities in Wiltshire for their friendly co-operation.

It is unfortunately necessary to record three losses by death that the committee has sustained since the last Wiltshire volume was published. In 1968 Alderman S. V. Christie-Miller, C.B.E., chairman of the committee since 1961, died. In 1967 Mr. R. V. Lennard, and in 1968, Professor T. S. Ashton, F.B.A., died: both had been members of the committee since 1949 and had played important parts in guiding its early steps. Sir Henry Langton, D.S.O., D.F.C., was elected chairman to succeed Alderman Christie-Miller. In December 1965 Mr. Colin Shrimpton resigned from the assistant editorship, and was replaced in July 1966 by Miss Janet H. Stevenson. The post of a second assistant editor was filled in September 1968 by Mr. D. A. Crowley.

Thanks are rendered to many persons who have helped in the compilation of the volume by granting access to documents in their care or ownership, by examining drafts, or by offering advice. Many are named in the footnotes or in the preamble to the List of Illustrations. Particular mention must here be made of the Swindon Borough Librarian and members of the staff of the Reference Library; officers of several departments of Swindon Corporation, especially the Town Clerk's Department, the Education Department, and the Borough Architect's Department; the extra-mural class working under the direction of Mr. H. Ross in Swindon during 1964 and 1965; the Wiltshire County Archivist; and the Hon. Librarian of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society.