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Swindon is a large town located in the South West of England, in the county of Wiltshire. Swindon lies on the M4 Corridor between Bristol and London. The town is easily accessible from either junction 15 or 16 of the M4 motorway, or by rail using Swindon station. With a population of over 155,432, Swindon is often cited as a "boom town" and new housing continues to be built. It is one of the fastest growing towns in Europe and has a very low unemployment rate. It is in the borough of Swindon, which has been a unitary authority since 1998.
A resident of Swindon is known as a Swindonian.
Swindon's motto is "Salubritas et Industria" (Health and Industry).
Swindon. Mechanics Institute and David Murray John tower
History
The original Saxon settlement of Swindon sat in a defensible position atop a limestone hill. It is referred to in the Domesday Book as Suindune, a name believed to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon word swine and British word dun meaning literally pig hill, or possibly Sweyn's hill where Sweyn would be the local landlord. Swindon remained a small market town, used mainly for barter trade, until the mid-1800s. This original market area of Swindon is located on top of the hill in central Swindon and is now known as Old Town.
A section of the Wilts and Berks Canal in Swindon, 2005.
The industrial revolution was responsible for a great acceleration of Swindon's growth. It started with the construction of the Wiltshire and Berkshire canal in 1810, and then the North Wiltshire canal in 1819. These two major routes brought more trade to the area, and Swindon's population started to rise.
Probably the most significant event in Swindon's history occurred in 1840, when it was selected to house the large Swindon railway works for the Great Western Railway by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Legend has it that Brunel and his assistant were surveying the route of the London to Bristol line, and had stopped on a hillside for lunch. The assistant asked Brunel where he thought the railway works should be built, and Brunel threw a sandwich in the air, declaring that it would be wherever the sandwich landed.
A Swindon-built locomotive (Hagley Hall) on display in the eating area of the McArthur Glen Designer Outlet, Swindon
Reality is more mundane. It was situated at a point where engines would need to be changed. Eastwards towards London the line was gently graded, while westwards there was a steep descent towards Bath. Swindon was also at the junction of a proposed line to Gloucester.
Construction of the works was completed in 1842 and the new jobs created brought many people into the town to work. Along with the railway works a small railway village was created to house some of the many railway workers. This area became the present day area known as New Town (or the Town Centre). The original Railway Village houses are still standing and are occupied, and several of the original buildings which comprised the engineering works also remain (though many are vacant). The Steam Railway Museum now occupies part of the old works.
In the second half of the 19th century the new area (Swindon New Town) created by the railway works and the original area from the market trading years (Swindon Old Town) were merged to become Swindon.
During much of the 20th century the railway works was the largest employer in the town. In the late 1970s however, a large portion of the railway works closed down. The job deficit was quickly filled by jobs in many new and upcoming industries.
Geography and climate
The town itself has a total area of approximately 39.70 km² (25.33 mi²). The unitary authority (created in 1996 as the 'County of Thamesdown', but renamed in 1997 as the county of Swindon) has a much larger area as it encompasses many surrounding villages and land.
Swindon has a temperate climate, meaning it has roughly equally long winters and summers. The temperature in Swindon varies slightly more than areas on the coast.
- (51°33′51″N, 1°46′15″W)
- Grid reference SU150850
- Nearby towns and cities: Calne, Chippenham, Wootton Bassett, Cirencester, Cricklade, Highworth, Marlborough
- Nearby villages: Blunsdon, Chiseldon, Hook, Lambourn, Liddington, Lydiard Millicent, Purton, Wanborough, Wroughton
- Nearby places of interest: Avebury, Barbury Castle, Crofton Pumping Station, Silbury Hill, Stonehenge
Demographics
As of the census of 2001 [1], there are 180,051 people and 75,154 occupied houses in the Swindon Unitary Authority. The average household size is 2.38 people. The population density is 780/km² (2020.19/mi²). 20.96% of the population are 0 to 15 years old, 72.80% are 16 to 74 years old, and the remaining 6.24% are 75 years old or over. For every 100 females there are 98.97 males.
The ethnic makeup of the town is 95.2% white, 1.3% Indian, and 3.5% other. Of the population, 92.4% were born in the UK, 2.7% in the EU, and 4.9% elsewhere in the world.
Swindon is considered to be an almost exact microcosm of the whole United Kingdom in its demographic makeup, to the extent that it has often been used for market research purposes and trials of new products and services. One example was the ill-fated Mondex electronic money.
Business
Major employers include Honda, Intel, BMW car factories, mobile phone companies such as Motorola and Ubinetics, and the retailer W H Smith which has its distribution centre and headquarters in Swindon. Several insurance and financial services companies such as Nationwide Building Society and Zurich Financial Services, and pharmaceutical companies such as Patheon and Cardinal Health are also based in Swindon.
Tourism and Recreation
McArthur Glen Designer Outlet, a shopping centre built in the disused Swindon railway engine works
- McArthur Glen Designer Outlet — Built using the structure of the disused railway engine works and adjacent to the Steam Museum.
- Swindon has a large roundabout surrounded by several smaller roundabouts known as the "Magic Roundabout" (which became the main subject of a song by the local band XTC).
- There are two leisure centres, 'The Link Centre' and 'The Oasis'.
- The Football League One team Swindon Town F.C. play in Swindon, at the County Ground.
- Broome Manor Golf Complex — one of the best golf courses in the region. Set against the backdrop of the Marlborough Downs.
- Public parks include Lydiard Country Park, Stanton Park, Barbury Castle, Queens Park and Coate Water.
- Pagoda Palace is the largest Chinese restaurant in Britain, and unique since it is built in traditional Far Eastern style and colours to create an authentic heavenly temple style. It is located next to the Peatmoor Lagoon in West Swindon.
- National Monuments Record Centre (NMRC) — Home of English Heritage. Next to Steam Railway Museum.
- National Trust Headquarters — A very energy efficient building.
Museums and cultural institutions
Swindon in fiction
Books set in Swindon include The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon (in which a character's father describes it as "the arsehole of the world") and the "Thursday Next" novels by Jasper Fforde. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, also ate lunch in the town in the novel The Boscombe Valley Mystery. Robert Goddard's "Into the Blue" and "Out of the Sun" both feature the central character of Harry Barnett from Swindon, and both novels start in the town. The TV detective series "A Touch of Frost" starring David Jason is often set in or around Swindon (called "Denton" in the series) and early episodes feature briefings of the detective team in front of recognizable maps of the Swindon area.
Further reading
- Swindon, Mark Child, Breedon Books, 2002, hardcover, 159 pages, ISBN 1859833225
- Francis Frith's Swindon Living Memories (Photographic Memories S.), Francis Frith and Brian Bridgeman, The Frith Book Company Ltd, 2003, Paperback, 96 pages, ISBN 1859376568
Trivia
- Approximately 300,000 people live within 20 minutes of Swindon town centre.
- A well-known rock band, XTC, came from Swindon.
- Noel Gallagher, the lead singer of the rock 'n' roll band Oasis chose the name of his band after visiting the Oasis swimming pool in Swindon (whilst working as a roadie for the band Inspiral Carpets, who themselves held a concert at the leisure centre in 1993).
- The British television comedy series The Office contains many references to Swindon.
- Swindon is referred to in singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock's song Ride.
- Swindon is twinned with Ocotal, Nicaragua and Salzgitter, Germany.
- Swindon also has close ties with Torun, Poland, which it started a friendship and co-operation agreement with on May 13, 2003.
- The world record for the longest wait on a hospital trolley after spending 77 hours and 30 minutes stuck outside the toilets was set in Swindon's Princess Margaret Hospital (now demolished), between February 24 and 27 February 2001.
- More people have joined the Hare Krishna movement in Swindon than in any other English town.
- There are many notable Swindonians.
James Bond
External links
