Swindon, UK

Website: Swindon-UK.com

Town of Swindon, Wiltshire, England

Swindon, UK, Time

Clock showing current time in London (UK Time Zone)

Swindon, UK, Map

View Larger Map

Swindon, UK, Websites

Swindon Council website

Swindon, UK, Information

Swindon's earliest settlers were a stone age community living on Swindon Hill. The location afforded an excellent defensive position against attack, with the added advantage of a water supply.

The town's next occupants were the Romans who quarried the hill's Portland limestone and shipped it to their settlement below.  In 1997, a digger preparing the ground for homes unearthed the remains of a Roman Villa.

Further exploration revealed evidence of a vast Roman community: a 10-acre complex of sanctuaries, temples, pools and terraced gardens.  In fact, recent excavations suggest it could be one of Britain's finest Roman religious sites and comparable with Europe's best.

When the Romans left, Saxons lived on the hill and established a farming community, giving Swindon its name. The town's name derives from the Saxon's reference to its burgeoning livestock trade – 'swin dun' or swine down.

In 1066, William the Conqueror gave Swindon to his half-brother, Bishop Odo of Bayeux, as a gift. On Odo's imprisonment, Swindon’s ownership passed to the crown until the reign of Henry III who then gave it to William de Valence, Earl of Pembroke.  And so Swindon remained for many years: a small market town of little significance and influence.

One man changed all that forever: Isambard Kingdom Brunel – The Great Western Railway's (GWR) Engineer to the Company.  In 1840, he chose Swindon as the site of GWR's railway works. By 1843, the works employed 400 men. And by 1846, it had built its first locomotive – 'The Great Western'.

From there, train production boomed.  In the 1920s, the works employed 14,000 to build the King Class locomotives – the jewels in GWR's crown. And on 28 April 1924, King George V and Queen Mary visited the works to view the trains for themselves.  They witnessed the work's most famous locomotive in production: Number 6000, King George V.

The end of the decade preceding the Second World War saw Swindon enjoying global recognition for its engineering excellence.  But its fortunes soon sadly declined. By 1960, the town had built its last steam locomotive, 'The Evening Star', and the workforce had fallen to five thousand.

The death-knell for the railway works finally rang on 27 March 1986 to the bitter disappointment of a town shaped by them.  Yet, their spirit lives on in.  In 2000, the site was redeveloped to house the shopping centre of the Great Western Outlet Designer Village.  The site still features a rare collection of trains including the famous Hagley Hall locomotive.

In the same year, HRH the Prince of Wales – an enthusiastic supporter of the railway work's conservation – opened 'STEAM – Museum of the Great Western Railway'.  Set in a beautifully restored building at the heart of the old works. The attraction celebrates the people who worked and travelled on the GWR – affectionately known as 'God's Wonderful Railway'.

[ MORE ] [ Swindon Map ] [ Swindon Time ] [ Hilton Swindon Hotel ] [ Argos Brunel Centre ] [ Argos Swindon Greenbridge ] [ Currys Digital Swindon ] [ Debenhams - Swindon ]

[ Back ] [ England ] [ MORE ] [ Next ]

[ Birmingham England ] [ Blackburn England ] [ Blackpool England ] [ Bolton England ] [ Bournemouth England ] [ Bradford England ] [ Brighton East Sussex ] [ Bristol England ] [ Bury England ] [ Chelmsford England ] [ Coventry, England ] [ Darlington England ] [ Derby England ] [ Doncaster England ] [ Dover England ] [ Dudley England ] [ Gloucester England ] [ Guildford England ] [ Harrogate England ] [ Hull England ] [ Ipswich Suffolk ] [ Leeds England ] [ Leicester England ] [ Liverpool England ] [ Luton England ] [ Manchester, England ] [ Middlesbrough England ] [ Milton Keynes England ] [ Newcastle England ] [ Northampton England ] [ Norwich Norfolk ] [ Nottingham England ] [ Oldham England ] [ Oxford England ] [ Peterborough England ] [ Plymouth England ] [ Poole England ] [ Portsmouth England ] [ Reading England ] [ Rochdale Lancashire ] [ Sheffield Yorkshire ] [ Solihull West Midlands ] [ Southampton England ] [ Southend-on-Sea England ] [ St Helens England ] [ Stockport England ] [ Stoke-on-Trent England ] [ Sunderland England ] [ Sutton Coldfield, England ] [ Swindon England ] [ Walsall England ] [ Watford England ] [ West Bromwich England ] [ Wigan England ] [ Woking England ] [ Wolverhampton, England ]

[ MORE ] [ Swindon Map ] [ Swindon Time ] [ Hilton Swindon Hotel ] [ Argos Brunel Centre ] [ Argos Swindon Greenbridge ] [ Currys Digital Swindon ] [ Debenhams - Swindon ]

European Union

Euro Currency Converter: The Euro

EU Time Zones

Central European Time | Eastern European Time | Western European Time | Greenwich Mean Time | British Summer Time

EU Cities

Amsterdam, Holland | Athens, Greece | Barcelona, Spain | Berlin, Germany | Bratislava, Slovakia | Brussels, Belgium | Copenhagen, Denmark | Dusseldorf, Germany | Florence, Italy | Frankfurt, Germany | The Hague, Holland | Hamburg, Germany | Helsinki, Finland | Lisbon, Portugal | London, England | Madrid, Spain | Marseilles, France | Milan, Italy | Munich, Germany | Naples, Italy | Nice, France | Paris, France | Prague, Czech Republic | Rome, Italy | Stockholm, Sweden | Venice, Italy | Vilnius, Lithuania

EU Countries

Austria  | Belgium  | Bulgaria  | Cyprus  | Czech Republic  | Denmark  | Estonia | Finland | France | Germany | Greece | Hungary | Ireland | Italy | Latvia | Lithuania | Luxembourg | Malta | Netherlands / Holland  | Poland  | Portugal  | Romania  | Slovakia  | Slovenia  | Spain  | Sweden  | United Kingdom

Can't find what you're looking for - Then Search Google

Google UK Search

Delivered by wwp UK server (5)

Global

Why not? Give us your feedback and comments using the Visitors Book Bookmark this page NOW! Make a link to us from your website? Advertise? Please contact us via the Feedback Form