About Swindon

Swindon ( (listen)) is a town and unitary authority with borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of 2021, the population of the Swindon area was 233,400, making it the largest town in the county. Located in South West England, the town lies between Bristol, 35 miles (56 kilometres) to its west, and Reading, equidistant to its east. Recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as Suindune, it was a small market town until the mid-19th century, when it was selected as the principal site for the Great Western Railway's repair and maintenance works, leading to a marked increase in its population. The new town constructed for the railway workers produced forward-looking amenities such as the UK’s first lending library and a ‘cradle-to-grave' health care centre that was later used as a blueprint for the NHS.After the Second World War, the town expanded dramatically again, as industry and people moved out from London to designated New or Expanded Towns such as Swindon.