| Swindon is a town based 70 miles to the west of London,
the English capital. Swindon began as a Saxon village. The name
Swindon is derived from the Saxon words swine dun meaning pig
hill or the hill where pigs were bred. Swindon is mentioned
in the Domesday Book (1086). At that time Swindon was a tiny
village but by the late 13th century Swindon had grown into
a small town with a weekly market. Swindon was still a very
small settlement with perhaps 600 inhabitants. It would seem
tiny to us but settlements were very small in those days. A
typical village had only 100 or 150 inhabitants.
For centuries Swindon was just a small and quiet market town.
By the late 17th century a stone quarry was being worked there.
In 1697 Swindon had a population of 791, which meant it was
very small town even by the standards of the time. By 1801
Swindon had grown to 1,198 people.
By the early 20th century there were about 14,000 men working
in the railway works at Swindon.
Manchester Road was built about 1900. By 1900 the 2 towns,
Old and New Swindon had fused together. In 1900 the new town
was made a Borough. |
