Monday 30th August 1971
In the book Industrial Archaeology In Wiltshire, edited by Kenneth G. Ponting, published in August 1971 by the Wiltshire Archaeolgical & Natural History Society and Wiltshire County Council, reference is made to Masters’ And Workmen’s Houses And Workshops connected with the textiles trade. Prospect Square, Westbury, is mentioned:
“Westbury, Prospect Square (ST.875510). In 1869 Abraham Laverton, Liberal cloth manufacturer, was defeated by his Conservative opponent Phipps in two fiercely-contested elections (the first annulled for corruption). Many of Laverton’s workpeople were ejected by Phipps for voting for their master, who in 1870 built a spacious square of 39 houses for them to live in. The picturesque layout of gabled cottages is still intact south of the Bratton Road.”