Derelict Chippenham house demolished for new homes

The former family home at 25 Rowden Hill, in Chippenham, had been left burnt-out since its former owner torched it in a fire that caused between £75,000 and £100,000 worth of damage.

But more than a decade later the abandoned property has now been bulldozed after plans to replace it with three new dwellings were approved by Wiltshire Council.

Construction is now set to begin on the erection of the three replacement homes, as well as nine new parking spaces.

Each of the new homes will house four bedrooms while the scheme also proposed to widen the public footpath at the site to two metres, in order to ease pedestrian access.

In its design and access statement, Calibre Homes said: “The development of the site will be a great visual improvement compared to the burnt out and neglected dwelling.

The property before it was demolished (Image: Newsquest)

“The dwelling was never rebuilt and, as such, the remains consisted of the exterior walls only, with no roof or internal floors.”

According to local historian Lucy Whitfield, the now destroyed house was originally built in 1927 for Yorkshire born engineer John Lionel Crathorne, and had stood on Rowden Hill for nearly a century.