RED GABLE DATE STONE

At the entrance to Red Gables Close is a memorial date stone carved with the date 1914 and built into a brick commemorative monument. An engraved plaque next to it bears the inscription "This site was formerly occupied by a Children’s Residential Home known as Red Gables. It was built in 1914 by the Parish Guardians and was later managed by Wiltshire County Council. It closed in 1997 and was eventually demolished. The Guinness Trust built the present homes here in 2001."

The building was originally used as a home for young children but in later years it was used for adolescents. It was demolished in 2000.

John Belt, the then Secretary of Purton Historical Society, wrote to the developers explaining it had been a building of some interest in the village. The Guinness Trust ensured that the demolition company put the date stone separately into a shed and it was later moved to a shed used by Purton Football Club at their Red House ground where it stayed for some years.

The commemorative monument was finished in January 2005 incorporating the date stone and explanatory plaque. The Historical Society is grateful to all those who have helped over the years in preserving this for the village.