Painting of St. Mary's Lydiard Tregoze by Peter Probst, 1947

A painting of St. Mary's Church Lydiard Tregoze by Peter Probst, a 36 year old German serviceman from Kublenz who was interned at 160 POW Camp Lydiard Park between 1947 and 1948.

Peter's Story

After recovering from a minor operation at the hospital camp, Peter discovered an interest in painting which caught the attention of several local families including Mr and Mrs Gough who lived in the dilapidated mansion house where Harry Gough was the council's caretaker. The Goughs bought two of Peter's pictures and their daughter Joyce (Vincent) remembered him fondly as a " quietly spoken gentleman and a kindly man".

Peter never forgot his days at Lydiard and the people he met there. Some twenty years later her returned to England with the intention of painting St. Mary's Church once again so that he might have a memento of the place. However, although he found Swindon he failed to locate Lydiard Park and returned home disappointed. Not wishing to give up his search, Peter then sent photographs to The Swindon Advertiser showing Joyce's wedding at Lydiard Tregoze in the hope that someone would recognise them. Fortunately the pictures were spotted in the paper and contact was renewed.

After his retirement in 1974 Peter Probst devoted much of his time to painting. His pictures were shown in exhibitions in Cologne, Switzerland and Austria. Peter died in 1993.

See Items of Interest Painting of Lydiard House and Park Farm by Peter Probst to find out more about Peter's story.