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62-542: The league was formed in the early 1980s and covers most of Wiltshire and Swindon (except for the Salisbury area, where teams play in Hampshire leagues), as well as including clubs which are just over the border into Somerset, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. Clubs may field more than one team. Beginning with the 2020 season, the league is sponsored by Neon Cricket, a Trowbridge -based supplier of cricket equipment. The league

124-484: A unitary authority on 1 April 1997, following a review by the Local Government Commission for England . The town is therefore no longer under the auspices of Wiltshire 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. Labour gained control of

186-645: A 19% swing at the same election. Prior to 1997 there was a single seat for Swindon, although much of what is now in Swindon was then part of the Devizes 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'. The town is also 26 miles (42 km) southwest of Oxford , 65 miles (105 km) south-southeast of Birmingham , 71 miles (114 km) west of London and 60 miles (97 km) east of Cardiff. Swindon town centre

248-434: A 50/50 balance of males and females. By mid-2019, the estimated population of the unitary authority area was 222,193. In 2011, 57.5% of Swindonians identified themselves as Christians , a reduction from 70% in 2001. This was followed by those of no religion (31%), Muslims (1.7%), Sikhs (0.6%), Hindus (1.2%), other (0.5%) and Judaism (0.1%). As of 2021, 46.6% of Swindonians identify themselves as Christians. This

310-544: A Built Up Area Subdivision with a population of 182,441. At the 2021 census, the only area covering most of the town was the Built Up Area, which had a population of 183,638. Excluded from this were the parts of Wichelstowe lying in Wroughton parish, the whole of Stratton St Margaret parish, and northern parts of St Andrews parish. By 2018, Swindon had a concentration of people originating from Saint Helena . After

372-524: A Scandinavian name akin to Sven and English swain, meaning a young man. Swindon is recorded in the Domesday Book as a manor in the hundred 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. Before the Battle of Hastings the Swindon estate was owned by an Anglo-Saxon thane called Leofgeat. After

434-503: A campaign was launched to bring an updated form of county borough status to Swindon. This was successful in 1997 with the formation of Swindon 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". Only Warrington had a lower ratio of house prices to household income in 2007, with

496-404: A non-league home challenge match, took place on 23 July 1949 against future rivals Oxford Cheetahs , and an official attendance figure of 8,000 was given, although employees of the club believe that 10,000 would be closer to the truth. The Robins lost their debut meeting 39–45 in a meeting that saw Ginger Nicholls top score for the home side with 11 points on his wedding day. In the process he won

558-569: A small market town of 2,500 into a thriving railway hub that would become one of the largest railway engineering complexes in the world at its peak. 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. Swindon's railway heritage can be primarily seen today with the grade 2 listed Railway Village and STEAM Museum . The McArthurGlen Designer Outlet

620-539: A strong sense of Polish identity". Swindon Robins The Swindon Robins are an motorcycle speedway team from England, established in 1949 that have competed primarily in the top division of speedway league competition in the United Kingdom. They are five times league champions of the United Kingdom. The club have raced at the Abbey Stadium since their inception but since 2020 have been unable to race at

682-434: 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. The 2011 census recorded a population of 209,156 people in the Swindon unitary authority area (including the town's urban area, Highworth , and other nearby parishes), with

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744-454: Is a member of Wiltshire Cricket Limited, the governing body for cricket in the county. This article related to an English domestic cricket competition is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Swindon Swindon ( / ˈ s w ɪ n d ən / ) is a large town in Wiltshire , England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area

806-473: 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 the English Channel is near Christchurch, 56 miles (90 km) due south. Meanwhile,

868-424: Is followed by those of no religion (40.5%), Muslims (2.7%), Sikhs (0.6%), Hindus (2.5%), other (0.6%) and Judaism (0.1%). In 2015, Public Health England found that 70.4% of the population was either overweight or obese with a BMI greater than 25. In 2011, the area of the town was 46.2 km (17.8 sq mi) and there were 3,949 inhabitants per square kilometre (10,230/sq mi). In 2011, 16.7% of

930-623: 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 famous engineer generally acknowledged with bringing the railways to the town. 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. Major venues in

992-520: Is likely marginally cooler throughout the year. The absolute maximum is 34.9 °C (94.8 °F), recorded during August 1990. In an average year the warmest day should reach 28.7 °C (83.7 °F) and 10.3 days should register a temperature of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above. The absolute minimum is −16.0 °C (3.2 °F), recorded in January 1982, and in an average year 45.2 nights of air frost can be expected. Sunshine, at 1,565 hours

1054-511: 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. 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. The Greater London Council withdrew from

1116-516: The Köppen climate classification ), like the vast majority of the British Isles, with cool winters and warm summers. The nearest official weather station is RAF 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

1178-504: The NHS . 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, a co-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

1240-557: The Norman Conquest , Swindon was split into five holdings: the largest was held between Miles Crispin and Odin the Chamberlain, and the second by Wadard , a knight in the service of Odo of Bayeux , brother of the king . The manors of Westlecot, Walcot, Rodbourne, Moredon and Stratton are also listed; all are now part of Swindon. The Goddard family were lord of the manor from the 16th century for many generations, living at

1302-521: The manor house , sometimes known as The Lawn. Swindon was a small market town , mainly for barter trade , until roughly 1848. This original market area is on top of the hill in central Swindon, now known as Old Town. The Industrial Revolution was responsible for an acceleration of Swindon's growth. Construction of the Wilts and Berks Canal in 1810 and the North Wilts Canal in 1819 brought trade to

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1364-558: The New Swindon Company was formed with the remit of regenerating the town centre, to improve Swindon's regional status. 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

1426-535: 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. When tuberculosis 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

1488-576: The Robins in 2008 and part of the 2009 season. Alun Rossiter also returned as team manager after a 2-year spell with Coventry, with whom he won the Elite League in 2010. In 2012, the Robins won the Elite League title after beating the Poole Pirates 95–89 on aggregate following a 45-year wait for glory. In 2013, 2014 and 2015, the Robins made the semi-finals of the playoffs, but failed to advance further. At

1550-632: The Robins won the Premier League Four-Team Championship , which was held on 27 July, at the Abbey Stadium. In 2004, the club returned once again to the top league, which was now called the Elite League and won the Elite League Pairs Championship in both 2004 and 2005. From 2006 until 2009 the Robins reached four consecutive play offs. During the 2009 Elite League speedway season the Robins finished first in

1612-463: 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 (1877–1930) wrote about his life as a hammerman at the works. The works' decline started in 1960, when it rolled out Evening Star ,

1674-588: The Town Development Agreement and the local council continued the development on its own. There was the problem of the Western Development and of Lydiard Park being in the new North 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 of Wiltshire County Council in the administration of Swindon. Together with like-minded councils,

1736-541: The area, and Swindon's population started to grow. Between 1841 and 1842, Isambard Kingdom Brunel 's Swindon Works was built for the repair and maintenance of locomotives on the Great Western Railway (GWR). The GWR built a small railway village to house some of its workers. The Steam Railway Museum and English Heritage , including the English Heritage Archive , now occupy part of the old works. In

1798-496: The areas of Penhill and Pinehurst. Oxford clay makes up the rest of the borough. The River Ray rises at Wroughton and forms much of the borough's western boundary, joining the Thames which defines the northern boundary, and the source of which is located in nearby Kemble, Gloucestershire . The River Cole and its tributaries flow northeastward from the town and form the northeastern boundary. Swindon has an oceanic climate ( Cfb in

1860-515: The average household income in Swindon among the highest in the country. In October 2008, Swindon Council made a controversial move to ban fixed point speed cameras . The move was branded as reckless by some, but by November 2008 Portsmouth , Walsall , and Birmingham councils were also considering the move. In 2001, construction began on Priory 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,

1922-484: The campaign but it was the same three riders that steered Swindon to back to back league titles. The Robins continued to compete in the top division, which became known as the British League in 1965 and during the period the leading riders included Mike Broadbank , Neil Street and Tadeusz Teodorowicz . The Robins strengthened the team in 1964 with the signing of Barry Briggs , who won his third world title during

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1984-418: The club in 1956 and 1957. In 1956, they won the 1956 Speedway National League Division Two title, finishing one point clear of Southampton Saints , with three riders, Bob Roger , Ian Williams and George White securing 9+ averages for the season. Promotion ensued and the following year Swindon joined the highest league, that of the 1957 Speedway National League . Several riders were brought in to bolster

2046-532: The club. The 1970s failed to live up to the success of the previous decade but the Robins did manage two fifth place finishes in 1971 and 1976 respectively. The team consisted of various number one riders throughout the period including Briggs, Ashby, Kilby before the signing of Phil Crump in 1979 by the new promoter Wally Mawdsley . The 1980s followed the same path as the 1970s, with a full decade of top level speedway but with only two third place finishes to show for their efforts in 1981 and 1987. The majority of

2108-657: The council from the Conservatives at the 2023 election , and increased their majority in 2024 . Swindon is represented in the national parliament by two MPs. Heidi Alexander (Labour) was elected for the Swindon South seat in July 2024 with a 16% swing from the Conservatives. Will Stone , also Labour, represents Swindon North – which covers the whole of the north of the borough, including Blunsdon and Highworth – after

2170-436: The deacde was led by Swindon stalwart Phil Crump before Jimmy Nilsen took over as the team's number one rider. Phil Crump scored 4,254 points and was the Robins' leading rider for eight years from 1979 to 1986. In 1990, the club paid £20,000 to Poole Pirates to secure the transfer of Leigh Adams , who would go on to become the number 1 rider at Swindon during three different spells, in addition to being regarded as one of

2232-752: The doctors of the GWR Medical Society Fund, which the institute had played a role in establishing and funding. Swindon's 'other' railway, the Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway , merged with the Swindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway to form the Midland & South Western Junction Railway , which set out to join the London & South Western Railway with the Midland Railway at Cheltenham . The Swindon, Marlborough & Andover had planned to tunnel under

2294-552: The eastern limit of the Bristol Channel , just north of Weston-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

2356-706: The end of World War II, Polish refugees were temporarily housed in barracks at RAF Fairford , about 25 km (16 mi) to the north. Around 1950, some settled in Scotland and others in Swindon rather than stay in the barracks or hostels they were offered. 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. Data from that census showed that 566 Swindonians were Polish-born. Notes to those data read: "The Polish Resettlement Act of 1947 , which

2418-479: The first-ever race, was beaten by an opponent only once, and set the first-ever track record at 82.8 seconds. The team then joined the 1949 Speedway National League Division Three late in the season, when Reg Witcomb applied to the Speedway Control Board to take over the remaining fixtures of Hull Angels , who had withdrawn from the league. Swindon finished in 11th place. The first silverware came to

2480-408: 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. The cradle-to-grave extent of this service was later used as a blueprint for

2542-615: The hill on which Swindon's Old Town stands but the money ran out and the railway ran into Swindon Town railway station , off Devizes Road in the Old Town, skirting the new town to the west, intersecting with the GWR at Rushey Platt and heading north for Cirencester , Cheltenham and the LMS , whose 'Midland Red' livery the M&;SWJR adopted. During the second half of the 19th century, Swindon New Town grew around

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2604-459: The last steam engine to be built in the UK. The works lost its locomotive building role and took on rolling stock maintenance for British 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

2666-500: The main line between London and Bristol . In 1900, the original market town, Old Swindon, merged with its new neighbour at the bottom of the hill to become a single town. On 1 July 1923, the GWR took over the largely single-track M&SWJR and the line northwards from Swindon Town was diverted to Swindon Junction station, leaving the Town station with only the line south to Andover and Salisbury. The last passenger trains on what had been

2728-455: The opening of the STEAM Museum in the 2000s. The Second World War saw an influx of new industries as part of the war effort; Vickers-Armstrong making aircraft at Stratton, and Plessey at Cheney Manor producing electrical components. By 1960, Plessey had become Swindon's biggest employer, with a predominantly female workforce. David Murray John , Swindon's town clerk from 1938 to 1974,

2790-491: The population of Swindon were non-White British compared with 15.4% in the surrounding borough. There was also little difference between the percentages of Black and Asian residents. Swindon is one of the most ethnically diverse towns in South West England : 4.6% of the population registered themselves as 'Other White' and 2.5% of the population was either mixed race or of another ethnicity. There are several definitions of

2852-498: The railway's workforce into some of the country's best-educated manual workers. The Mechanics' Institute had the UK's first lending library , and a range of improving lectures, access to a theatre and various other activities, such as ambulance classes and xylophone lessons. A former institute secretary formed the New Swindon Co-operative Society in 1853 which, after a schism in the society's membership, spawned

2914-439: The regular season table but lost in the play off final. The Australian Leigh Adams was the best rider in the league, topping the averages twice and was the track record holder, with a time of 63.86 seconds, on 31 August 2009. Following difficult campaigns in 2010 (when Adams left the club) and 2011, Swindon signed Denmark's Peter Kildemand , former world #5 Hans Andersen and Australian international Troy Batchelor , who rode for

2976-473: The required two British reserves. In 2017, the Robins won the League Championship play off final against Wolverhampton Wolves despite losing the first leg at their home track. Jason Doyle was instrumental in helping Swindon claim the crown. Due to stadium issues, a new stadium was planned to be built for the 2018 season but this did not happen and at the start of the 2019 season, the Abbey Stadium

3038-660: The same year. The next major success came during the 1967 British League season when Swindon won the league title. Swindon finished with four riders with averages over eight, Barry Briggs topped the entire league with 11.05 but the contributions from Martin Ashby (8.83), Bob Kilby (8.61) and Mike Broadbank (8.55) were pivotal in the Swindon's success. The Robins also won the Midland Cup for two consecutive seasons in 1967 and 1968. Martin Ashby would go on to ride for Swindon for 16 seasons from 1961 to 1979 and score 5,476.5 points for

3100-404: The stadium. The formation of the club followed the sport's prehistory in the town at the now-demolished Gorse Hill Aerodrome, where dirt track racing had taken place since 1928. The birth of the Robins was a product of the partnership of Bristol speedway manager Reg Witcomb and businessman Bert Hearse. Under their direction, a 410-yard (370 m) cinder track was built. The first meeting,

3162-553: The start of the 2015 season, Swindon's No 1 Adrian Miedziński was injured in the first meeting at the Abbey, with Peter Kildemand filling in on a temporary basis before the club signed Australian international Darcy Ward. However, Ward suffered a career-ending accident while riding in Poland, and Kildemand once again stepped in to complete the season. The 2016 Robins team was nicknamed Roscos Roo's, because it contained five Australians in addition to

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3224-518: The supply of cannabis and cocaine, and girls as young as 14 being coerced into sexual activity in exchange for drugs. 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 the Borough of Swindon in 1997. The borough became

3286-536: The top league. Jimmy Nilsen returned to the club in 1996, as did Leigh Adams in 1997 but the club dropped again to the second division in 1999. The club experienced success in 2000, winning the Div 2 KO Cup and Young Shield during the 2000 Premier League speedway season , a season in which they were unlucky to finish league runner-up behind Exeter Falcons . The Falcons only won the title on points difference and actually won three less matches than Swindon that season. In 2003,

3348-540: The town centre. Other sports in the town include Swindon Wildcats Ice Hockey and five-time British speedway champions the Swindon Robins . The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Swindon sat in a defensible position atop a limestone hill. It is referred to in the 1086 Domesday Book as Suindune, believed to be derived from the Old English words "swine" and "dun" meaning "pig hill" or possibly Sweyn's hill, Sweyn being

3410-435: The town for statistical purposes. The smallest extent is the former unparished area , now covered by the parishes of West Swindon , Central Swindon North , South Swindon , and Nythe, Eldene and Liden ; thus it omits suburbs to the east and north, namely the parishes of Covingham , Stratton St Margaret and Haydon Wick . At the 2011 census, the population of the unparished area was 122,642. The 2011 census also recognised

3472-576: The town include the Wyvern Theatre and the Mechanics' Institute . Lydiard Park has hosted festivals such as BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend , while the Swindon Mela, an all-day celebration of South Indian arts and culture, attracts up to 10,000 visitors a year. The ancient Ridgeway , known as Britain's oldest road, runs a few miles to Swindon's south, with Avebury , the largest megalithic stone circle in

3534-600: 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

3596-522: The world's best riders for over a decade. Despite securing his services he lacked support and the Robins suffered a poor 1992 season, finishing last and dropping down to the second division from 1993 to 1994. The team ( Tony Olsson and Tony Langdon ) won the British League Division Two Pairs Championship , held at Arena Essex Raceway on 28 May 1994. With the merger of the divisions for the 1995 season, Swindon returned to

3658-510: The world, and Uffington White Horse , Britain's oldest white horse figure, also nearby. Wiltshire's only professional football club Swindon Town F.C. , have played in the Premier League in the 1993/94 season and won a major trophy, securing a famous giant-killing victory over Arsenal in the 1969 League Cup final . They currently play in League Two at the 15,000-seat County Ground in

3720-532: Was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located in South West England , Swindon lies on the M4 corridor , 71 miles (114km) to the west of London and 36 miles (57 km) to the east of Bristol . The Cotswolds lie just to the town's north and the North Wessex Downs to its south. Recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as Suindune , the arrival of the Great Western Railway in 1843 transformed it from

3782-501: 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 for POWs ... The first generation took pains to ensure that their children grew up with

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3844-465: Was reduced in size to 320 metres from its original 363 metres. It turned out to be their last season at the Abbey Stadium. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the 2020 SGB Premiership was completely cancelled and in January 2021, the Robins confirmed their withdrawal from the 2021 season, citing uncertainty around the potential redevelopment of their stadium. The Robins' promoter, Terry Robins, confirmed that

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