History of Swindon
Its location to the north of the Marlborough Downs and on the southern end of the Vale of White Horse, with access to the River Cole and others, made it suitable for use as farming land.
Central parts of Swindon Hill and the Old Town have been extensively quarried, especially beds of Purbeck Stone, as is clearly evidenced in the first British Geological Survey for the area.
However, digs around Swindon's former quarry sites and during building works have uncovered limited prehistoric finds, including Bronze Age relics, with suggested burials, flint tools, and pottery.
He also noted various other stone settings and rows around the area, not all clearly located, but including features around the modern Coate Water Country Park.
Archaeological opinion has differed on the status of Passmore's interpretation, with some suggesting that all of the stones were natural, and likely sets of sarsen erratic boulders, presumably derived as a lag deposit from long dissolved chalk and possibly moved by very ancient glaciations.
Just to the east of the Coate Stone Circle is the current channeled form of the Dorcan Stream, arising as one of several small but active natural springs from the area around the south, around the hill at Badbury Wick, itself a site of Bronze Age occupation.
The Historic Environment Records show further evidence of scattered Bronze Age occupation around the site of the Great Western Hospital.
Iron Age occupation has been identified and excavated in fields to the north of Coate Stone Circle, and a survey of nearby round barrow features has been conducted.
[7] Burial grounds dating to the 4th century have been found in Purton,[2] but the most substantial find was made in 1996, when contractors developing an area of Groundwell Ridge uncovered the buried walls of Roman buildings.
Described as "a site of great importance, with a large complex of buildings, a hypocaust (a system of under-floor heating, usually found as part of Roman bath houses), walls covered with painted plaster and a carefully designed and constructed water supply.
Although Germanic settlers may have been present earlier, the West Saxons advanced from the south coast in the 5th century and brought Swindon under their control after the Battle of Beranburgh, reportedly at Barbury Castle in 556.
[2] Following the imprisonment of Odo for having planned a military expedition to Italy, High Swindon reverted to the Crown until the reign of Henry III in the 13th century who gave it to William de Valence, Earl of Pembroke.
At the time of the purchase, Swindon's economy revolved around agriculture, with sheep farms to the south, pigs and cattle to the north, supported by trades such as tanners and woolmongers in the town.
Manorial records of Swindon from 1700 to 1900 show that many families chose to remain here instead of seeking fortunes elsewhere – 'Swindon was not a town that its occupants readily moved from or changed'.
Manorial records also note the following tradesmen/families in the town – Four bakers, four butchers, five innholders, 1 cooper, 1 mercer, 1 draper, 1 glover, 1 currier, 1 saddler, 3 weavers.
20 servants, 4 tailors, 10 cobblers, 4 blacksmiths, 2 carpenters, 1 chandler, 1 cheese factor, 1 joiner, 2 slaters, 1 wheelwright, 1 ironmonger, 1 glazier and 1 surgeon.
William de Valence, Earl of Pembroke (½ brother of Henry III) is recorded as having held a market in Swindon from 1259.
[14] Swindon as reported in 1830 was still a quiet, market town – Swindon is a market town in the hundred of Kingsbridge, eighty miles from London, thirty-eight from Salisbury, nineteen from Devizes, and eleven from Marlborough; pleasantly seated on the banks of the Wilts and Berks canal, by which navigation the trade of this place is much facilitated; – Mr William Dunsford, whose residence is at the Wharf, is the superintendent.
In 1835 parliament approved the construction of a railway between London and Bristol, giving the role of Chief Engineer to Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
The Great Western Railway was originally planned to cut through Savernake Forest near Marlborough,[2] however the Marquess of Ailesbury who owned the land, objected.
In its heyday, it employed over 14,000 people and the main locomotive fabrication workshop, the A Shop was, at 11.25 acres (45,500 m2), one of the largest covered areas in the world.
This provided enough money to open an electrical power station in 1903 on land bought by the new council at Lower Eastcott Farm (now located in Corporation Street).
A number 11 tram taking passengers from the Bath and West Show being held in Old Town suffered brake failure driving down Victoria Hill and crashed in Regents Circus, killing five.
Faringdon Road Park had trenches dug under trees and air-raid shelters added due to its location near to both the Works and the railway village.
The factory produced sheet metal pressings and bodywork for a variety of applications, including the railway, before eventual takeover by Rover.
Originally only closed to traffic from 10am till 5pm on Saturdays, this was expanded to the eventual pedestrianisation of the main shopping area and paving over of the existing roads and canals.
Swindon's role as a major railway locomotive manufacturer ended in 1962, with work changing to focus on repairs to carriages and engines and large portions of the site sold.
recorded the best result in its history, winning 3–1 in the League Cup Final against Arsenal at Wembley Stadium, a match watched by close to 100,000 people.
Another large corporation, Hambro Life Assurance, established their headquarters in the town in the 1970s, with offices over the railway station and over Debenhams in the shopping area.
In the first decade of the 21st century the residential areas of Oakhurst, Redhouse and Haydon End – together known as Priory Vale – were developed, together with a new District Centre for North Swindon at the Orbital Shopping Park.
