Swindon (/ˈswɪndən/ⓘ) is a town inWiltshire, England. At the time of the2021 census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county.[1] Located at the northeastern edge of theSouth West England region, Swindon lies on theM4 corridor, 84 miles (135 km) to the west of London and 36 miles (57 km) to the east ofBristol. TheCotswolds lie just to the town's north and theNorth Wessex Downs to its south.
Recorded in the 1086Domesday Book asSuindune, the arrival of theGreat Western Railway in 1843 transformed it from a small market town of 2,500 into a thriving railway hub that would become one of the largestrailway engineering complexes in the world at its peak.[2][3] This brought with it pioneering amenities such as the UK's first lending library and a 'cradle-to-grave' healthcare centre that was later used as a blueprint for the NHS.[4] Swindon's railway heritage can be primarily seen today with thegrade 2 listed Railway Village andSTEAM Museum.[5][6] TheMcArthurGlen Designer Outlet is housed in the renovated former works and the Brunel Shopping Centre is one of several places in Swindon that bear the name of the famousengineer generally acknowledged with bringing the railways to the town.[7][8]
Despite the subsequent decline and closure of its railway works, Swindon was one of the fastest growing towns in Europe post-war as its economy diversified, attracting large international companies, who made use of its burgeoning population and strategic transport links.[9][10]
TheAnglo-Saxon settlement of Swindon sat in a defensible position atop alimestone hill. It is referred to in the 1086Domesday Book as Suindune,[2] believed to be derived from theOld English words "swine" and "dun" meaning "pig hill" or possibly Sweyn's hill, Sweyn being a Scandinavian name akin to Sven and English swain, meaning a young man.
Swindon is recorded in the Domesday Book as amanor in thehundred of Blagrove,Wiltshire. It was one of the larger manors, recorded as having 27 households and a rent value of £10 14s, which was divided among five landlords.[2] Before theBattle of Hastings the Swindon estate was owned by anAnglo-Saxonthane called Leofgeat.[18] After theNorman Conquest, Swindon was split into five holdings: the largest was held betweenMiles Crispin and Odin the Chamberlain,[2] and the second byWadard, aknight in the service ofOdo of Bayeux,brother ofthe king.[18][page needed] The manors of Westlecot, Walcot, Rodbourne, Moredon and Stratton are also listed; all are now part of Swindon.
Swindon was a smallmarket town, mainly forbarter trade, until roughly 1848. This original market area is on top of the hill in central Swindon, now known as Old Town.[19]
Former lodging house in the Railway Village, now a community centre
Between 1841 and 1842,Isambard Kingdom Brunel'sSwindon Works was built for the repair and maintenance of locomotives on theGreat Western Railway (GWR). The GWR built a small railway village to house some of its workers. TheSteam Railway Museum andEnglish Heritage, including theEnglish Heritage Archive, now occupy part of the old works. In the village were the GWR Medical Fund Clinic at Park House and its hospital, both on Faringdon Road, and the 1892 health centre in Milton Road, which housed clinics, a pharmacy, laundries, baths,Victorian Turkish baths and swimming pools, was almost opposite.
From 1871, GWR workers had a small amount deducted from their weekly pay and put into a healthcare fund; GWR doctors could prescribe them or their family members medicines or send them for medical treatment. In 1878 the fund began providing artificial limbs made by craftsmen from the carriage and wagon works, and nine years later opened its first dental surgery. In his first few months in post, the dentist extracted more than 2,000 teeth. From the opening in 1892 of the health centre, a doctor could also prescribe a haircut or even a bath. Thecradle-to-grave extent of this service was later used as a blueprint for theNHS.[4]
The Mechanics' Institute, formed in 1844, moved into a building that looked rather like a church and included a covered market, on 1 May 1855. The New Swindon Improvement Company, aco-operative, raised the funds for this programme of self-improvement and paid the GWR £40 a year for its new home on a site at the heart of the railway village. It was a groundbreaking organisation that transformed the railway's workforce into some of the country's best-educated manual workers.[20]
The Mechanics' Institute had the UK's firstlending library,[4] and a range of improving lectures, access to a theatre and various other activities, such as ambulance classes andxylophone lessons. A former institute secretary formed the New Swindon Co-operative Society in 1853 which, after a schism in the society's membership, spawned the New Swindon Industrial Society, which ran a retail business from a stall in the market at the institute. The institute also nurtured pioneering trades unionists and encouraged local democracy.[21]
Whentuberculosis hit the new town, the Mechanics' Institute persuaded the industrial pioneers of North Wiltshire to agree that the railway's former employees should continue to receive medical attention from the doctors of the GWR Medical Society Fund, which the institute had played a role in establishing and funding.[22]
During the second half of the 19th century, Swindon New Town grew around the main line between London andBristol. In 1900, the original market town, Old Swindon, merged with its new neighbour at the bottom of the hill to become a single town.[19]
On 1 July 1923, the GWR took over the largely single-track M&SWJR and the line northwards from Swindon Town was diverted toSwindon Junction station, leaving the Town station with only the line south to Andover and Salisbury.[24][25][26] The last passenger trains on what had been the SM&A ran on 10 September 1961, 80 years after the railway's first stretch opened.
During the first half of the 20th century, the railway works was the town's largest employer and one of the biggest in the country, employing more than 14,500 workers. Alfred Williams[27] (1877–1930) wrote about his life as a hammerman at the works.[28]
The works' decline started in 1960, when it rolled outEvening Star, the last steam engine to be built in the UK.[29] The works lost its locomotive building role and took on rolling stock maintenance forBritish Rail. In the late 1970s, much of the works closed and the rest followed in 1986.
The community centre in the railway village was originally the barrack accommodation for railway employees of the GWR. The building became the Railway Museum in the 1960s, until the opening of the STEAM Museum in the 2000s.
Swindon in 1933Swindon in 1959. Grid squares are 1 km (0.62 mi).
TheSecond World War saw an influx of new industries as part of the war effort;Vickers-Armstrong making aircraft at Stratton, andPlessey at Cheney Manor producing electrical components. By 1960, Plessey had become Swindon's biggest employer, with a predominantly female workforce.[30]
David Murray John, Swindon's town clerk from 1938 to 1974, is seen as a pioneering figure in Swindon's post-war regeneration: his last act before retirement was to sign the contract for Swindon's tallest building, which is now named after him.[31] Murray John's successor was David Maxwell Kent, appointed by the Swindon/Highworth Joint Committee in 1973: he had worked closely with Murray John and continued similar policies for a further twenty years. TheGreater London Council withdrew from the Town Development Agreement and the local council continued the development on its own.
There was the problem of the Western Development and ofLydiard Park being in the newNorth Wiltshire district, but this was resolved by a boundary change to take in part of North Wiltshire. Another factor limiting local decision-taking was the continuing role ofWiltshire County Council in the administration of Swindon. Together with like-minded councils, a campaign was launched to bring an updated form ofcounty borough status to Swindon. This was successful in 1997 with the formation ofSwindon Borough Council, covering the areas of the former Thamesdown and the former Highworth Rural District Council.
In February 2008,The Times named Swindon as one of "The 20 best places to buy a property in Britain".[32] OnlyWarrington had a lower ratio of house prices to household income in 2007, with the average household income in Swindon among the highest in the country.
In October 2008, Swindon Council made a controversial move to ban fixed pointspeed cameras. The move was branded as reckless by some,[33] but by November 2008Portsmouth,Walsall, andBirmingham councils[34][35] were also considering the move.
In 2001, construction began onPriory Vale, the third and final instalment in Swindon's 'Northern Expansion' project, which began with Abbey Meads and continued at St Andrew's Ridge. In 2002, the New Swindon Company was formed with the remit of regenerating the town centre, to improve Swindon's regional status.[36] The main areas targeted were Union Square, The Promenade, The Hub, Swindon Central, North Star Village, The Campus, and the Public Realm.
In August 2019, a secondary school in the town was at the centre of a 'county lines' drug supply investigation by Wiltshire Police, with 40 pupils suspected of being involved in the supply of cannabis and cocaine, and girls as young as 14 being coerced into sexual activity in exchange for drugs.[37]
The local council was created in 1974 as the Borough of Thamesdown, out of the areas of Swindon Borough and Highworth Rural District. It was not initially called Swindon, because the borough covers a larger area than the town; it was renamed as theBorough of Swindon in 1997. The borough became aunitary authority on 1 April 1997,[38] following a review by theLocal Government Commission for England. The town is therefore no longer under the auspices ofWiltshire Council.
Council elections are held in three out of every four years, with one-third of the seats up for election in each of those years; beginning in 2026, the whole council will be elected every four years.[39]Labour gained control of the council from theConservatives at the2023 election, and increased their majority in2024.[40]
Swindon is represented in thenational parliament by two MPs.Heidi Alexander (Labour) was elected for theSwindon South seat in July 2024 with a 16% swing from the Conservatives.[41]Will Stone, also Labour, representsSwindon North – which covers the whole of the north of the borough, includingBlunsdon andHighworth[42] – after a 19% swing at the same election.[43] Prior to 1997 there was asingle seat for Swindon, although much of what is now in Swindon was then part of theDevizes seat.
Swindon is a town in northeast Wiltshire, 35 miles (56 km) west-northwest of Reading and the same distance east-northeast of Bristol 'as the crow flies'.[44][45] The town is also 26 miles (42 km) southwest ofOxford, 65 miles (105 km) south-southeast ofBirmingham, 71 miles (114 km) west of London and 60 miles (97 km) east of Cardiff. Swindon town centre is also equidistant from the county boundaries of Berkshire and Gloucestershire, both being 8 miles (13 km) away. The border with Oxfordshire is slightly closer, being around 5 miles (8 km) away.
Swindon is within a landlocked county and is a considerable distance from any coastline. The nearest section of coast on theEnglish Channel is near Christchurch, 56 miles (90 km) due south. Meanwhile, the eastern limit of theBristol Channel, just north ofWeston-super-mare, lies 53 miles (85 km) to the west.
The landscape is dominated by the chalk hills of the Wiltshire Downs to the south and east. The Old Town stands on a hill of Purbeck and Portland stone; this was quarried from Roman times until the 1950s. The area that was known as New Swindon is made up of mostly Kimmeridge clay with outcrops of Corrallian clay in the areas of Penhill and Pinehurst. Oxford clay makes up the rest of the borough.[46] TheRiver Ray rises at Wroughton and forms much of the borough's western boundary, joining theThames which defines the northern boundary, and the source of which is located in nearbyKemble, Gloucestershire. TheRiver Cole and its tributaries flow northeastward from the town and form the northeastern boundary.
Swindon has anoceanic climate (Cfb in theKöppen climate classification), like the vast majority of the British Isles, with cool winters and warm summers. The nearest official weather station isRAF Lyneham, about 10 miles (16 km) west southwest of Swindon town centre. The weather station's elevation is 145 metres (476 ft) in a rural setting, compared to the typical 100 metres (330 ft) encountered around Swindon town centre, so is likely marginally cooler throughout the year.
The absolute maximum is 34.9 °C (94.8 °F),[47] recorded during August 1990. In an average year the warmest day should reach 28.7 °C (83.7 °F)[48] and 10.3 days[49] should register a temperature of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above.
The absolute minimum is −16.0 °C (3.2 °F),[50] recorded in January 1982, and in an average year 45.2 nights of air frost can be expected.
Sunshine, at 1,565 hours a year, is typical for inland parts of Southern England, although significantly higher than most areas further north.
Annual rainfall averages slightly under 720 mm (28 in) per year, with 123 days reporting over 1 mm (0.039 in) of rain.
Climate data forLyneham,[a] elevation 145 m (476 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1957–present)
For the overwhelming majority of the Borough of Swindon’s history, the population was ethnically homogeneous, with the population being ofWhite British ethnicity. In the 2021 census, the Borough of Swindon had a usual resident population of 233,410.In the 2021 census, the ethnic composition of the ceremonial county of Wiltshire comprised 81.5% White, 11.6% Asian, 2.6% Black, 2.8% Mixed, and 1.5% Other.
White (81.5%): English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British (74.2%), Irish (0.7%), Gypsy or Irish Traveller (0.1%), Roma (0.2%), and Other White (6.3%).
Asian (11.6%): Indian (7.6%), Pakistani (0.9%), Bangladeshi (0.6%), Chinese (0.5%), and Other Asian (2.1%).
Black (2.6%): African (1.8%), Caribbean (0.4%), and Other Black (0.4%).
Mixed (2.8%): White and Asian (0.7%), White and Black African (0.5%), White and Black Caribbean (0.8%), and Other Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups (0.8%).
Other (1.5%): Arab (0.1%) and Any other ethnic group (1.3%).
Note: Sub-group totals may not sum exactly to the group total due to rounding.
Note: The 2001 census figures for 'Asian' and 'Other' have been adjusted to reflect the 2011 reclassification of the Chinese ethnic group from 'Other' to 'Asian' to allow comparison across census years.
Religion in the Borough of Swindon (2021 census)[56]
In the 2021 census the religious composition of the Borough of Swindon comprised 46.6% Christianity, 40.5% No religion, 2.7% Islam, 2.5% Hinduism, 0.7% Buddhism, 0.6% Sikhism, 0.1% Judaism, 0.6% Other religion, 5.6% Not stated.
At the 2021 census, the only area covering most of the town was the Built Up Area, which had a population of 183,638.[63] Excluded from this were the parts ofWichelstowe lying inWroughton parish, the whole ofStratton St Margaret parish, and northern parts ofSt Andrews parish.
After the end of World War II, Polish refugees were temporarily housed in barracks atRAF Fairford, about 25 km (16 mi) to the north. Around 1950, some settled in Scotland and others in Swindon[65] rather than stay in the barracks or hostels they were offered.[66]
The 2001 UK Census found that most of the Polish-born people had stayed or returned after serving with British forces during World War II. Swindon and Nottingham were parts of this settlement.[67] Data from that census showed that 566 Swindonians were Polish-born.[68] Notes to those data read: "ThePolish Resettlement Act of 1947, which was designed to provide help and support to people who wished to settle here, covered about 190,000 people ... at the time Britain did not recognise many of the professional [qualifications] gained overseas ... [but] many did find work after the war; some went down the mines, some worked on the land or in steelworks. Housing was more of a problem and many Poles were forced to live in barracks previously used forPOWs ... The first generation took pains to ensure that their children grew up with a strong sense of Polish identity".
NHS planners devising services for senior citizens estimated in 1994 that 5% of Swindon's population were not 'ethnically British',[69] and most of those were culturally Polish.
The town's Polish ex-servicemen's club, which had run a football team for 45 years, closed in 2012. Barman Jerzy Trojan blamed the decline of both club and team on the children and grandchildren of the original refugees losing their Polish identity.[66]
Swindon has a large community ofGoan people. Estimates for the total number of Goans in Swindon range from 8,000[70] to 25,000;[71] in 1999 there were estimated to be only 40 Goan people in the town.[72] In 2013, Swindon was reported to have the highest concentration of Goans anywhere in the world outside ofGoa.[73]
The Goan population is concentrated in Swindon's New Town area, around Manchester Road.[73] Most of the Goan community areGoan Catholics and have Portuguese nationality due to their ancestry inPortuguese Goa.[74][75] The Catholic community is served byHoly Rood Catholic Church in the town centre and St Peter's Church inWest Swindon, and supported by the Goan Chaplaincy.[76] Services are regularly carried out inKonkani.[77] TheAnglican St Luke's Church also carries out Mass in Konkani, believed to be the only Mass regularly carried out in this language in theChurch of England.[78]
The Goa Swindon Association supports members of the community. It is involved in promoting and introducingGoan culture, such astiatrs (Konkani theatre), the annual Goan Summer Festival, and Konkani musical shows, among others.[79]
Among the notable Goans based in Swindon is Imtiyaz Shaikh, who has served as Mayor of Swindon since 2024. He is a two-termEastcott councillor onSwindon Borough Council.[80]
St Barnabas, Gorse HillChrist Church (Church of England), designed by SirGeorge Gilbert Scott
There are numerous places of worship in Swindon, some of which arelisted buildings.[81] Until 1845, the only church in Swindon was the Holy Rood Church, a Grade II listed building.[82] That year,St Mark's Church was built. In 1851, Christ Church was built. Later in the year, the first Roman Catholic chapel was opened in the town and was also namedHoly Rood. In 1866, Cambria Baptist Chapel was built. In the 1880s, Bath Road Methodist Chapel was built. In 1885, St Barnabas Church was built followed by the Baptists Tabernacle (1886–1978). In 1907,St Augustine's Church inEven Swindon was built. Various churches and places of worship were built in the town by other denominations and faiths.[83] Pattern Church was launched on Christmas 2018, on the site of the former Pattern Store.[84]
Hagley Hall, a Swindon-built locomotive, on display in the eating area of the McArthur Glen Designer Outlet, SwindonHavelock Square, near the Brunel Centre
Major employers in the town includeBMW/Mini (formerly Pressed Steel Fisher) in Stratton,Dolby Labs, international engineering consultancy firmHalcrow, and retailerW H Smith's distribution centre and headquarters. Electronics companyIntel, insurance and financial services companies such asNationwide Building Society andZurich Financial Services, the energy companiesRWE Generation UK plc andNpower (a company of theInnogy group), the fleet management companyArval, pharmaceutical companies such as Canada'sPatheon and the United States–based Catalent Pharma Solutions and French medical supplies manufacturerVygon (UK) have their UK divisions headquartered in the town.
From 1985 to 2021, Japanese car manufacturerHonda had its sole UK plant atSouth Marston, just outside Swindon.[85] In March 2021, it was announced that logistics firmPanattoni would move to the former Honda site.
Swindon is an importantrailway town.Swindon railway station opened in 1842 asSwindon Junction and, until 1895, every train stopped for at least ten minutes to change locomotives. As a result, the station hosted the first recorded railway refreshment rooms.[87]
Located at the junction of two Roman roads, the town has developed into a transport hub over the centuries. It is accessed by two junctions (15 and 16) on theM4 motorway.
The town'sMagic Roundabout, at the junction of five roads, contains five mini-roundabouts and has a contra-rotational hub at its centre.[90] It is built on the site of Swindon Wharf on the abandonedWilts & Berks Canal, near theCounty Ground. The official name wasCounty Islands, although it was known colloquially as theMagic Roundabout and the official name was changed to match its nickname.
The Swindon Mela, an all-day celebration ofSouth Indian arts and culture in the Town Gardens, which attracts up to 10,000 visitors each year.[12]
The Children's Fete, a town-wide event in celebration of Swindon's children, community, culture, and heritage, is usually held the first Saturday in July in the GWR Park on Faringdon Road, with 8,000 attending in 2016.[citation needed]
TheSummer Breeze Festival has been held annually in the town since 2007[94] with headliners includingToploader[95] andKT Tunstall.[96] The family-friendly music event is run by volunteers on a non-profit basis with any funds raised going to charity.
An annualGay Pride Parade called Swindon And Wiltshire Pride is held in the town. The parade has been held in the Town Gardens since 2007. Swedish DJBasshunter performed in the 2012 celebrations, with around 8,000 people attending.[citation needed]
The SwindonBeer Festival, Organised by the local branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), is held at the STEAM museum in October each year.[97] There is also an Old Town Beer Festival held in Christ Church.[98]
Swindon Open Studios, held over two weekends every September; localartists open their studios to visitors or take part in group exhibitions around the town.[99]
The Shoebox Theatre is a fringe theatre and producing house with a focus on contemporary performance and new work.[101]
Live music venues such as The High Street Club, The Kings Arms, The Castle, The Beehive, Level III, and The Victoria attract local acts as well as touring national acts; collectively they host an annual music festival, the Swindon Shuffle.[102] TheCounty Ground is used for some major events. MECA is a 2,000-capacity music venue in the former Mecca bingo hall.
TheArts Centre is a theatre in Old Town which seats 200 and has music, professional and amateur theatre, comedians, films, children's events, and one-man shows.
In 2012,Swindon: The Opera was performed at theSTEAM Museum in Swindon by the Janice Thompson Performance Trust,[103] after a successful 2011 Jubilee People's Millions Lottery bid. It charted Swindon's history since 1952 until the present day. The musical was written by Matt Fox, with music by composerBetty Roe.[104]
TheOasis Leisure Centre was used for events until its closure in 2020. Its name was claimed by some to be the inspiration for the name of theManchester band.[105]
McArthur Glen Designer Outlet, a shopping complex built within the disused Swindon railway engine worksThe David Murray John Tower near The Brunel Centre
Swindon Designer Outlet (opened in 1997) is an indoor shopping mall for reduced-price goods, mainly clothing, on the site of the former railway works. The outlet is adjacent to theSteam Museum (opened in 2000) and theNational Trust headquarters (since 2005). The mall has around 100 retailers and restaurants, and once held the record of biggest covered designer outlet centre in Europe.[7] It was enlarged in the mid-2010s.
The Brunel Centre (opened in 1978) and The Parade (opened in 1967) are the two shopping complexes in the town centre, built along the line of the filled-inWilts & Berks Canal (a canal milepost can still be seen). The Brunel Centre opened a food court called The Crossing in 2018.[106]
Greenbridge Retail and Leisure Park (Stratton St. Margaret (opened in 1964)), Orbital Shopping Park (Haydon Wick (opened in 2003)), and theWest Swindon Shopping Centre / Shaw Ridge Leisure Park (opened in 1975) are the three major out-of-town facilities. There is also the Bridgemead Retail Park and Mannington Retail Park, both in West Swindon, in close proximity to each other.
Regent Circus opened in October 2014 on the site of the former Swindon College building. As of October 2024, most units have now closed, leaving onlyNando's, Boom Battle Bar and a PrideHub shop sellingLGBTQ paraphernalia that only trades on Saturdays.[107][108]
Former
Swindon Tented Market, in the Town Centre close to the Brunel Centre, was built in 1994. It reopened in October 2009, having been closed for two years, but closed again for good in August 2017. Demolition date is still to be confirmed.[109][110]
Public parks includeLydiard Country Park, Shaw Forest Country Park,The Lawns, Stanton Park,Queens Park, GWR Park,Town Gardens, Pembroke Gardens andCoate Water.[111] Fishing for the Moon is a small urbansensory garden created in 1990 by Thamesdown Borough Council and renovated by South Swindon Parish Council in 2021. Its central feature is an artwork by Michael Farrell.[112][113]
Swindon has many online media outlets with the largest beingThe Swindon Advertiser. SwindonWeb was the first website dedicated to Swindon in 1997 followed by SwindonLink and The Swindonian with many other sites now available, including Total Swindon andThe Swindon Post.
Swindon has a dailynewspaper, theSwindon Advertiser, with daily circulation of about 4,000 with an estimated readership of 21,000. Other newspapers covering the area includeBristol's dailyWestern Daily Press and theSwindon Advertisers weekly, theGazette and Herald; theWiltshire Ocelot (a free listings magazine),The Swindonian Monthly MagazineSwindon Star,Hungry Monkeys (a comic),Stratton Outlook,Frequency (an arts and cultural magazine),Great Swindon Magazine,Swindon Business News,Swindon Link andHighworth Link.
The Swindon area is in the overlap between TV transmitters from two regions,Oxford (Thames Valley) andMendip, supplemented by a local relay transmitter in the town[119] (West of England).ITV regional news programmes come fromITV News Meridian (with offices at Abingdon) andITV West Country (Bristol). OnBBC One, the area is served by bothSouth Today (from Southampton) andPoints West (Bristol).
Between 1973 and 1982, the town had its own cable television channel calledSwindon Viewpoint. This was a community television project run mainly by enthusiasts from studios in Victoria Hill, and later by Media Arts at the Town Hall Studios. It was followed by the more commercialSwindon's Local Channel, which included pay-per-view films.[120] NTL (laterVirgin Media) took over the channel's parent company, ComTel, and closed the station.
The borough of Swindon has many primary schools, 12 secondary schools, and two purpose-built sixth-form colleges. Three secondary schools also have sixth forms. There is one independent school, Maranatha Christian School atSevenhampton.
New College andSwindon College cater for the town'sfurther education and higher education requirements, mainly for 16 to 22-year-olds. Swindon College is one of the largest FE-HE colleges in southwestern England, at a purpose-built campus in North Star, Swindon.
Swindon is the UK's largest centre of population without its own university (by comparison, there are two universities in nearbyBath, which is half Swindon's size). In March 2008, a proposal was made by former Swindon MP,Anne Snelgrove, for a university-level institution to be established in the town within a decade, culminating in a future 'University of Swindon' (with some[who?] touting the future institution to be entitled 'The Murray John University, Swindon', after the town's most distinguished post-war civic leader).[citation needed]
Oxford Brookes University has had a campus in Swindon since 1999. The campus offers degrees in Adult Nursing and Operating Department Practice (ODP).[121] The Joel Joffe Building[122] opened in August 2016 and was officially opened[123] in February 2017 byLord Joel Joffe, a long-time Swindon resident and former human rights lawyer. From 1999 to 2016 the Ferndale Campus was based in north-central Swindon. The main OBU campus is about 27 miles (43 km) northeast of Swindon. The university also sponsorsUTC Swindon, which opened in 2014 for students aged 14–19.
Between 2000 and 2008 theUniversity of Bath had a campus in Walcot, east Swindon.
Swindon has three rugby union teams, Swindon Rugby Football Club, Swindon College Old Boys Rugby Football Club, who play at Nationwide Pavillion[sic], and Supermarine Rugby Football Club.[142]
Swindon St George are a rugby league team playing in the West of England Rugby League. The kit consists of black and red shirts with black shorts and socks. It was founded in 2007.
Swindon has two athletics clubs affiliated toEngland Athletics, Swindon Harriers (running, track and field)[144] and Swindon Striders (running).[145] There is also a group called Swindon Shin Splints.[146] TwoHash House Harrier running groups are centred on Swindon, North Wilts Hash House Harriers (who run every Sunday) and the Moonrakers Hash House Harriers (who run every other Wednesday evening).[147] There is aparkrun held every Saturday at Lydiard Country Park.[148]
^Davis, W., 1876, "On the exhumation and development of a large reptile (Omosaurus armatus, Owen), from the Kimmeridge Clay, Swindon, Wilts.",Geological Magazine,3: 193–197
^'County lines drugs gang recruits 40 pupils in one school-one for each class' report by Charles Hymas, Home Affairs Editor, The Daily Telegraph 23 August 2019 page 11.
^Crittall, Elizabeth; Rogers, Kenneth; Shrimpton, Colin (1983). "Geology".A history of Swindon to 1965. Wiltshire Library & Museum Service.ISBN0-86080-107-1.
Swindon, Mark Child, Breedon Books, 2002, hardcover, 159 pages,ISBN1-85983-322-5
Francis Frith's Swindon Living Memories (Photographic Memories S.), Francis Frith and Brian Bridgeman, The Frith Book Company Ltd, 2003, Paperback, 96 pages,ISBN1-85937-656-8
An Awkward Size for a Town, Kenneth Hudson, 1967, David & Charles Publishers (no ISBN)
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