I have been watching this place for a long time now,so today decided to have a walk round,and that`s all I did today..there has been some developement with new windows and drainage soil pipes added but today,I saw no-one.Here is some history I have found:
Kingshill House was probably built around 1840-60 although the 1841 census doesn't appear to mention the Italianate villa with the three-storey tower.
During the 1860s John Harding Sheppard owned the property, but he never actually lived there occupying instead a mansion house on the corner of Newport and High Street, now the site of the Co-op Store.
J.H. Sheppard died on February 15, 1868, however his extensive estate of land and property didn't come on the market until two years later when William Dore conducted an auction on behalf of the trustees at the Goddard Arms Hotel on Wednesday September 28, 1870.
Lot 5 was described in the sale catalogue as 'A substantial family residence called Kingshill Villa With Lawn, Croquet Ground, Ornamental Garden and Shrubberies, With Stable, Coach House, Yard and other outbuildings.' The house, then in the occupation of Mr. F. Brown, stood in over an acre of land and was approached from the Road 'through a Carriage Drive and Avenue which will form the Road to adjoining lands.'
'This estate being situate on the Sands and to the West between Old and New Swindon has been considerably enhanced in value of later years, and a brisk competition for the various lots was anticipated,' quoted the Swindon Advertiser.
Despite being offered in small lots for building purposes there appeared to be little interest. 'We believe, however, that not a single lot was sold,' reported the Advertiser.
Kingshill Villa also remained unsold at the end of the day. Robert Bowly, who had already purchased the High Street brewery long associated with Sheppard, eventually bought it nearly 12 months later, for £950.
Robert Brewin Bowly took over the running of the brewery after his father's death in 1885 and by 1891 he was living at 14 High Street. Thomas Hooper Deacon, owner of the VWH Horse & Carriage Repository and Mayor of Swindon in 1908, then occupied Kingshill House, although it remained in the Bowly family until around 1910.
In 1926 the owner George Crisford sold it to Frank Alfred Morris, the son of Swindon Advertiser founder William.
Frank died the following year and the house passed out of private ownership in 1929 when his widow sold the property to Swindon Corporation for £3,250.
By 1933 the house had been converted into a maternity unit and continued to accommodate health care facilities for more than 70 years. In October 2010 Swindon Borough Council granted planning consent for a change of use for Kingshill House from health clinic to eight residential units. These two bedroom apartments had an asking price of more than £400,000 when they came on the market.