Where to Stay in Swindon, England

What is Swindon known for?

On the chalk edge of the Marlborough Downs in southern England, it grew around the works of the Great Western Railway, and it keeps the great locomotive works now kept as a museum of steam, the model streets of the railway village Brunel laid out, the old market town on the hill above, and the downs and the ancient Ridgeway path beyond. The chalk hills rise south. Trains built the town.

What are the main landmarks in Swindon?

The old railway works are the mark of Swindon. The long stone sheds where the Great Western built its engines, now the STEAM museum of the line, stand by the station, the emblem of the town, downtown. A model village lies beside them.

The stone streets Brunel laid for his workers still stand nearby, while the old market town on the hill, the Coate Water of the writer Jefferies, and the Ridgeway on the downs mark the country around Swindon.

What is the history of Swindon?

Swindon began as a small hilltop town. For centuries a quiet market stood on the chalk hill, selling the sheep and corn of the downs, until the railway came and changed all. Brunel chose the spot.

When the Great Western Railway drove its line west from London, its engineer set the company's great works at Swindon, and a whole new town of foundries and sheds grew below the old one on the plain. The works made the town. Thousands labored in the railway sheds, building and mending the engines of the line, and the company raised a model village of stone cottages, a church, and a hospital for its men.

The whistle ruled the day. Long lines of workers crossed to the sheds at the sound of the hooter, and Swindon grew into one of the great railway towns of Britain, until the works closed at last and the sheds became a museum, so the town kept its village, its steam, and its downs. The old cottages still stand in rows.

Swindon keeps its railway town below the chalk downs of Wiltshire.

Where is Swindon?

Swindon lies in the north of Wiltshire, on the chalk downs above the upper Thames plain. The town spreads from an old hilltop market to a wide new town on the flat below, with the Marlborough Downs and the Ridgeway rising to the south and the vale running north toward the Cotswolds. The chalk holds the high ground.

Fields roll off to the vale.

What is the climate of Swindon?

Swindon has a mild, damp climate. Cool cloudy winters and warm changeable summers cross the downs, with soft rain the year round and gentle weather off the sea. The winter stays grey and wet.

Summer warms the chalk.

How do you get to Swindon?

Swindon lies in north Wiltshire, on the Great Western line between London and Bristol. Fast trains and the motorway run to it west from London, and roads climb south to the downs and the stone circle at Avebury. Trains stop often.

London lies east down the line.