Swindon
Swindon is a town in Wiltshire in the South West of England. The town is situated approximately midway between Bristol (64 km / 40 miles west) and Reading (71 km / 44 miles east) and some 130 km (81 miles) west of London, all on the main rail line using Swindon station. It was a designated 'Expanded' Town under the Town Development Act 1952, which led to a vast increase in the population of the town.[1] It is in the borough of Swindon, which has been a unitary authority independent of Wiltshire since 1998. In the 2001 census the population of the Swindon urban area was 155,432, whilst around 180,000 lived in the borough.
A resident of Swindon is known as a Swindonian. Swindon's motto is "Salubritas et Industria" (Health and Industry). Template:Infobox England place
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 swine and Brythonic dun to mean pig hill, or possibly Sweyn's hill where Sweyn would be the local landlord. Swindon remained a small market town, 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.
The industrial revolution was responsible for an 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 trade to the area, and Swindon's population started to rise.
In 1840 Swindon was selected to house the large Swindon railway works for the Great Western Railway by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The works 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. A small railway village was created to house some of the railway workers. This area is now known as New Town (or the Town Centre). The 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 a large part of the works closed, and the remainder followed in 1986.
Geography and climate
The town itself has a total area of approximately 40 km² (25.33 mi²).
Swindon has a temperate climate, with roughly equal length winters and summers. The landscape is dominated by the chalk hills of the Wiltshire Downs to the south and east.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Swindon.train.arp.750pix.jpg/250px-Swindon.train.arp.750pix.jpg)
- (51°33′51″N 1°46′15″W / 51.56417°N 1.77083°W)
- grid reference SU150850
- Nearby towns and cities: Calne, Chippenham, Wootton Bassett, Cirencester, Cricklade, Highworth, Marlborough
- Nearby villages: Aldbourne, Blunsdon, Chiseldon, Hook, Lambourn, Liddington, Lydiard Millicent, Purton, Ramsbury, Wanborough, Wroughton
- Nearby places of interest: Avebury, Barbury Castle, Crofton Pumping Station, Silbury Hill, Stonehenge, Uffington White Horse
Regierung
The local council was created in 1974 as the Borough of Thamesdown, out of Swindon Borough and Highworth Rural Councils, but renamed in 1997 because the Borough of Swindon) has a much larger area as it encompasses villages and land. The borough became a unitary authority on 1 April 1998, following a review by Local Government Commission for England. The town is therefore no longer under the auspices of Wiltshire County Council.
The executive comprises a leader (Cllr Rod Bluh), and a cabinet made up from the Conservative Group. The makeup of the council is Conservative 42 councillors, Labour 12, Liberal Democrat 3 and Independents 2. Five councillors transferred from the Labour group to the Conservatives on 19 June 2006. Two have left the Lib Dems.
Swindon is represented in the national parliament by two MPs. Anne Snelgrove (Labour) was elected for the South Swindon seat in 2005, and Michael Wills, also Labour, has represented North Swindon since 1997. Prior to 1997, there was a single seat for Swindon, although a lot of what is now in Swindon was then in the Devizes seat.
Demographics
At the census of 2001, there were 180,051 people and 75,154 occupied houses in the Swindon Unitary Authority.[2] The average household size was 2.38 people. The population density was 780/km² (2020.19/mi²). 20.96% of the population were 0 to 15 years old, 72.80% were 16 to 74 years old, and the remaining 6.24% were 75 years old or over. For every 100 females there were 98.97 males. Approximately 300,000 people live within 20 minutes of Swindon town centre.
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The ethnic makeup of the town was 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. More people have joined the Hare Krishna movement in Swindon than in any other English town.
Swindon is considered to be an almost exact microcosm of the whole United Kingdom in its demographic makeup, to the extent that it has been used for market research purposes and trials of new products and services. One example was the ill-fated Mondex electronic money.
It has been forecast that there will be a 70,000 (38.9%) increase in Swindon's population by 2026; from the current 180,000, to 250,000.[3]
In Summer 2006, 51% of households in Swindon have broadband Internet access, the highest in the UK.[4]
Business
Major employers include the Honda car production plant at South Marston, BMW in Stratton, mobile phone companies Motorola and Ubinetics and the retailer W H Smith which has its distribution centre and headquarters in Swindon. The computer company Intel has its European head office on the south side of the town and Lucent Technologies head office is on the west side. Insurance and financial services companies such as Nationwide Building Society and Zurich Financial Services, and pharmaceutical companies such as Patheon and Cardinal Health also have head offices in the town. Several of the UK's Science Research Councils have their head offices in Polaris House, adjacent to the rail station. Swindon is also the location of two Tyco Electronics (a division of Tyco International) sites, based in Dorcan and Cheney Manor.
Tourism and recreation
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- The Brunel Centre and the Parade are shopping areas in the town centre.
- Retail parks include Greenbridge, West Swindon Shopping Centre, Stratton and the Orbital Shopping Park.
- The Steam Railway Museum shows Swindon's part in the history of the Great Western Railway.
- McArthur Glen Designer Outlet is an undercover shopping mall for reduced price designer goods, using the buildings of the disused railway engine works. The Outlet is 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).
- The Link Centre and the Oasis are leisure centres.
- Broome Manor Golf Complex is a golf course set against the backdrop of the Marlborough Downs.
- Public parks include Lydiard Country Park, Stanton Park, Barbury Castle, Queens Park and Coate Water.
- Shaw Community Forest is being developed on the site of a former landfill site in West Swindon.
- The National Monuments Record Centre is in Swindon, the home of English Heritage.
Media
- BBC Radio Swindon BBC radio station.
- Brunel FM 107.7FM; Radio station.
- GWR FM Network commercial radio station with regional programs owned by GCAP.
- Classic Gold 936/1161 Network commercial radio station with local programs in the late afternoon.
- Swindon Advertiser Local daily newspaper for Swindon, the Borough of Swindon and area.
- Swindon Link magazine http://www.swindonlink.com
Bildung
- New College and Swindon College Providers of higher education.
- The "University of Bath in Swindon" was established in 2000, with its Oakfield Campus in Walcot, East Swindon.
- Great Western Youth Brass Band Youth brass band.
Museums and cultural institutions
- Museum of Computing Oakfield Campus, University of Bath in Swindon, Marlowe Avenue.
- National Museum of Science & Industry, Wroughton
- Railway Village Museum
- Richard Jefferies Museum is dedicated to the memory of one of England's most individual writers on nature and the countryside.
- Steam Railway Museum
- Swindon Arts Centre is the home of the Swindon art scene.
- Swindon Museum and Art Gallery
Sport
- Swindon Town F.C. Football team playing in Football League Two (upon their relegation from League One in May 2006) at the County Ground.
- Swindon Wildcats Ice hockey team.
- Swindon Robins Speedway team competing in the Elite League.
- Swindon Parkour Revolution Parkour/Free-running group.
- 4fw pro wrestling Professional wrestling club
Twin Towns
Swindon is twinned with -
Salzgitter, Deutschland (1975)[5]
Ocotal, Nicaragua (1990)[5][6]
Toruń, Polen (2006)[5]
Chattanooga, USA (2006)[7]
Swindon in popular culture
Books set in Swindon include The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon, the Thursday Next novels by Jasper Fforde, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's detective, Sherlock Holmes, who ate lunch in the town in the novel The Boscombe Valley Mystery.
Robert Goddard's Into the Blue, Out of the Sun and most recently "Never Go Back" all feature the central character of Harry Barnett from Swindon, and all three 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 recognisable maps of the Swindon area.
The British television comedy series The Office contains many references to Swindon.
James Bond
- James Bond author Ian Fleming is buried at Sevenhampton.
- Two James Bond films have used Swindon for scenes.[8]
- The former Renault building in West Swindon was used in A View to a Kill (released 1985).[9]
- The futuristic Motorola production plant in Abbey Meads was used for a setting of a Turkish Oil refinery in The World Is Not Enough (released 1999).
Swindon references in music
- The rock band XTC, the notable rock-pop group formed in 1977, are from Swindon.
- Noel Gallagher, the lead singer of the rock 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).
- Swindon is referred to in singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock's song Ride.
- A track on Venetian Snares' album Cavalcade of Glee and Dadaist Happy Hardcore Pom Poms is named Swindon.
- Spinal Tap's 'Diva Fever' features a reference to Swindon along with London and Waterloo.
- Rick Davies, keyboard player and singer with Supertramp, comes from Swindon. In the sleeve artwork for "Breakfast In America" which features the members of the band in an American diner reading their respective hometown newspapers, Davies' choice is the Swindon Evening Advertiser (since renamed as the Swindon Advertiser).
References
- ^ Great Britain Historical GIS Project. "Swindon: Total Population". A Vision of Britain through time. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ "Swindon UA". Census 2001. Office of National Statistics. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ "Vision proposes 35,000 new homes". BBC News. 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ "Swindon 'leads broadband Britain'". BBC News. 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ a b c "Twin Towns". Swindon Borough Council. Retrieved 2006-12-12.
- ^ "More About SOL". Swindon Ocotal Link. Retrieved 2006-12-12.
- ^ "Chattanoga's Sister Cities". City of Chattanooga. Retrieved 2006-12-12.
- ^ "James Bond". The Swindon Connection. SwindonWeb. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ "The Renault Building". Swindon Places. SwindonWeb. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
See also
Further reading
- Swindon, Mark Child, Breedon Books, 2002, hardcover, 159 pages, ISBN 1-85983-322-5
- Francis Frith's Swindon Living Memories (Photographic Memories S.), Francis Frith and Brian Bridgeman, The Frith Book Company Ltd, 2003, Paperback, 96 pages, ISBN 1-85937-656-8
External links
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- Swindon.gov.uk Official Borough Council website
- Swindon Advertiser Local newspaper
- BBC Wiltshire BBC site for Wiltshire & Swindon (includes Historic Swindon section)
- Swindon Link Magazine For North and West Swindon
- SwindonWeb General information
- Visit Swindon Tourism website
- St Augustine's Church One of Swindon's railway churches