History

Until the 1840s, Swindon was an unremarkable market town. Situated between Reading and Bristol it was the ideal place for Isambard Kingdom Brunel to locate the Great Western Railway works. The first Swindon locomotive, Great Western, left the works for service in 1846. The town expanded quickly and by the early 1900s the area around the railway works and station became home to thousands of the workers.

The western end of Beatrice Street (constructed c1899) was adjacent to an entrance of the railway works and became home to Swindon's first tool shop in the 1920s. The early days involved supplying tools and sundries to the carriage and engineering workers.

By the 1930s the business was flourishing and was taken over by F. Holland. The photo shows a customer tool payment plan from 1938.

The aerial photographs below (1946 and 1952) show the shop and the expanse of the GWR railway works.

The census of 1951 indicates Charlie Gee had taken over the reins and he continued until the mid 1960s. Enter William (Bill) Beesley, a Berkshire based gentleman who's success was cemented in supplying tools for the construction of the London underground. Bill expanded his business to Beatrice Street and continued to supply British Rail. 

By 1984, the Swindon works had closed and the focus of Beesleys Tools moved away from engineering and into woodworking and carpentry. During this time the business was taken over by the Howard family whose descendants continue to run the business today.

Beesleys Tools is the fourth oldest shop in Swindon and the third oldest tool shop in England.