• Swindon & Wiltshire Property
• Monday February 14 2022

Arkell’s celebrate ‘topping out’ at latest Swindon pub

A traditional ‘topping out’ ceremony has been held to celebrate the completion of the first stage of construction at Arkell’s Brewery’s newest pub – The Strawberry Thief.

The pub is situated in Swindon’s Tadpole Garden Village, and executives from the brewery and construction firm Edmont marked the installation of the last piece of roof.

In the case of The Strawberry Thief, this was the building’s chimney stack, where a lucky beer bottle cap was installed under the capstone.

George Arkell, managing director of the 180-year-old brewery, said: “We are really pleased to have reached this key stage in the construction of our brand-new pub, and it is lovely to be able to celebrate this long-held tradition of laying the capstone on the top of the chimney.

“We have built many pubs across Swindon over the generations, and we can’t wait to add The Strawberry Thief to our family of nearly 100 pubs.

“We are looking forward to seeing the next stage of the build, as the inside of the pub comes to life, and we can’t wait to welcome the community of Tadpole Garden Village for a well-deserved beer in June, having been waiting so long for their pub to be built.”

Edmont managing director Craig Morton, said: “We are pleased to have reached this important milestone and would like to thank the whole team, who have worked tirelessly to get us to this point, supported by local subcontractors from in and around Swindon providing groundworks, stonework and roofing.

“We look forward to continuing to work closely with Arkell’s to complete the build on their new pub.”

Also in attendance was Ian Maslin from architectural practice Clark & Maslin.

The Strawberry Thief is Arkells’ first new pub for more than 20 years. It is being built to serve Crest Nicholson’s 1,855-home Tadpole Garden Village development in north Swindon.

The name is inspired by a textile design by Arts & Crafts innovator William Morris. He created the pattern – which features thrushes – in 1883 after catching the birds stealing fruit from his kitchen at nearby Kelmscott Manor.

The William Morris theme runs through Tadpole Garden Village with street names and the school named after the textile designer.