Swindon – The Origin

Our April meeting was the first to be held at our new temporary venue of Junction Church, Eastleigh. We were pleased to welcome the Society’s President, Reverend Canon Brian Arman to speak about the origins of Swindon. Our meetings are held jointly with the Watercress Line, and their new CEO, Rebecca Dalley was present to introduce herself to the local members.

Brian’s talk covered Swindon from 1840 to the mid-1870s. Prior to the arrival of the Great Western Railway, the population of Swindon was approximately 2,500, and located at Swindon Hill. Swindon was to be the junction of the lines from London to Bristol and Gloucester and this was a reason for establishing the GWR locomotive works there in the V of the junction. A locomotive running shed was also provided. The railway workforce required housing, and this led to the development of the new town about a mile from the original settlement. The two settlements did not come within one local authority until 1900. Interesting statistics were illustrated on a pie chart showing where workers had migrated from. Significant numbers arrived from the north east.

An agreement was reached with the developers of the station and early houses that refreshment rooms would be provided at the station. The refreshment rooms soon gained a bad reputation.

A number of facilities that would be taken for granted nowadays were provided such as the contributory sick club which may be seen as setting a model for the NHS national insurance system a century later, schools, and a church.

Brian illustrated the development of the railway workshops and some of its products, including the first locomotive to be built entirely at Swindon.

Brian was thanked for his talk. We look forward to hearing more about Swindon at a later date.