Musicians, former customers, promoters and residents are being invited to consider whether there is a sustainable way of bringing the building back into use.
Potential community ownership is among the options the organisation wants to explore, although it has not announced plans to purchase the property.
The freehold of 73 Commercial Road is being marketed with offers in the region of £450,000 plus VAT.
Sales particulars describe an 8,267 sq ft property across four levels, containing nine letting bedrooms and a substantial live music venue with capacity for up to 400 people.
The property is also being advertised as having potential for conversion to a variety of other uses, subject to planning permission.
According to the sales particulars, the building is not listed and does not stand within a conservation area.
Swindon Culture Collective said:
“One of Swindon’s most important music venues is under threat and now up for sale.
“We want to bring our community together to imagine a new future for The Rolly & Level 3 and explore sustainable ways of keeping the site alive, including potential community ownership, and preserve an important part of our town’s cultural heritage.”
The Commercial Road site has a history stretching back more than 130 years.
Local history research based on contemporary newspaper records indicates that the surrounding Rolleston Estate began being developed around 1890.
Builder John Horsell was closely involved in the development, with his 1907 obituary in the North Wilts Herald recording that he built the Rolleston Arms Hotel and was its proprietor for 11 years.
CAMRA records the premises as having been licensed since 1891.
A historic photograph held by Local Studies at Swindon Central Library, dating from between 1890 and 1903, shows the Rolleston Hotel on the corner of Commercial Road and Curtis Street.
The pub later became affectionately known as The Rolly, while the downstairs music venue operated under several different names.
Level 3’s archive states that the venue has previously been known as The Furnace and Basement 73.
Acts to have performed there include Bring Me The Horizon, Don Broco, Bad Manners, UK Subs, Wheatus, Zebrahead, Mastodon and The Wedding Present.
The site also played a role in the beginnings of the Swindon Shuffle, with The Furnace and The Rolleston among the venues used when the grassroots music festival launched in 2007.
The latest attempt to revive the premises began earlier this year.
Matt Keeble took over The Rolleston Arms and Level 3 in February and reopened the pub on Sunday 15th March.
Speaking in April, he described Level 3 as the “jewel in the crown” and outlined hopes of reopening the downstairs venue during the summer.
But the revival proved short-lived, with Mr Keeble announcing in May that The Rolly would close on Friday 5th June.
He said that despite backing from a core group of customers, there had not been enough consistent footfall to make the venture financially viable.
Swindon Culture Collective CIC was incorporated in August 2025 as a not-for-profit community interest company, having grown out of the network previously known as Magic Swindon.
It coordinates local artists, cultural organisations, community groups and businesses and is leading Swindon’s two-year Place Partnership cultural programme.
The £1.3 million programme includes £600,000 from Arts Council England’s National Lottery Place Partnership Fund, alongside financial and in-kind support from Swindon Borough Council and other local organisations.
Swindon Culture Collective has also been looking at the town’s music infrastructure, holding a Swindon Music Roundtable with Arts Council England in June and a further music network meeting in July.
It is now asking people with memories of The Rolly and Level 3, those who have performed there and anyone interested in Swindon’s music scene to join discussions about the building’s future.
The public meeting will take place on Monday 28th September from 7.30pm until 9pm at 19 Canal Walk, the former Argos store in the Brunel Centre.
