Swindon Local Studies collection is housed in the Central Library. It contains a large collection of printed material, with special emphasis on Swindon and the surrounding parishes, together with the Great Western Railway. Staff will be available to assist with your enquiries, which can be by personal visit, telephone, letter, fax or e-mail.
Swindon Libraries has an e-mail service called Ask Here. We are happy to answer your enquiries on local or family history, from the simple to the complex. So why not e-mail us any time day or night and we will respond within three working days.
The Local Studies Library houses the Swindon Archive, which is part of Wiltshire and Swindon Archives. We have copies of parish registers, bishops' transcripts and electoral registers on microfiche.
An archivist visits the Swindon Central Library at regular intervals for consultations.
Consultations will be held in the Central Library from 10.00am to 12 noon on the following Mondays:
Dates for 2008
28 January 2008
25 february 2008
17 March 2008
28 April 2008
19 May 2008
22 February 2007
29 March 2007
26 April 2007
19 May 2007
30 June 2008
28 July 2008
18 August 2008
29 September 2008
27 October 2008
24 November 2008
29 December 2008
Wiltshire & Swindon Archives
Wilshire & swindon History Centre
Cockleberry Road
Chippenhan
SN15 2QN
Telephone: 01249 705500
E-mail: archives@wiltshire.gov.uk
Website: www.wiltshire.gov.uk/history-centre.htm
Material is arranged by subject and parish, and staff can explain the arrangement or find books for particular needs. Books range from transcriptions of Saxon land charters to modern structure plans; and topics include geology, archaeology, natural history, building, transport, dialect and many more. Works by Wiltshire authors are also held, and the Richard Jefferies collection is of particular significance. The library holds an important collection of books on the Great Western Railway and particularly on the Swindon railway works.
Newspapers are a valuable primary source of information and Swindon holds long runs on microfilm:
The Reference Library additionally holds The Times on microfilm from 1785.
A wide range of local magazines is collected, including local business and commercial publications, parish and village magazines, and society and specialist journals. Especially important is the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, of which a complete run from 1854 is available.
The library has many maps of Swindon and surrounding areas, including recent large-scale Ordnance Survey sheets. Various editions of Ordnance Survey maps, at a scale of 25 inches to 1 mile, are held for the northern part of Wiltshire (late 1880s to the 1940s), while modern 1:10,000 sheets are collected for the same area, and 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 sheets for the whole of Wiltshire. Smaller scale and specialist maps, such as those for geology, shopping centres, soils and footpaths, are also available.
There is a photographic collection of over 6000 items containing both early material and recent photographs detailing change and development in Swindon and the surrounding villages. A large number of aerial photographs are held, including the 1991 low-level survey in colour.
Electoral registers for the old Borough of Swindon are held from 1945 and from 1974 for Thamesdown and the new Swindon Borough, while the council minutes are held from 1864. You will find complete Wiltshire Electoral Registers from 1832 and all local council minutes in the record office. The library has a full collection of structure and local plans, and all the Wiltshire volumes on listed buildings published by the Department of the Environment.
These exist from 1783, although only later Swindon directories give a complete list of householders. Kelly's Directories of Wiltshire were published from 1848 to 1939, and these provide useful information on tradesmen and industries. The library is fortunate in having a very long run of Swindon town directories from 1852 until 1970.
Apart from the newspapers already mentioned, certain other material is held on microform. Census information is available for the Swindon area from 1841 to 1881 and for the whole of Wiltshire for 1871,1891 and 1901. The International Genealogical Index of baptisms and marriages for the British Isles is a useful resource, especially for family historians. We also have the General Register Office index of births, marriages and deaths from 1837 to 1999. It is advisable to book microfilm and microfiche viewers in advance.
A collection of minor material, originally not intended to have long-term significance, but which nevertheless can be of great interest to local historians. It includes such items as advertising material and election leaflets.
Most material is recorded in our online catalogue and staff will undertake author or subject searches.
Printouts from microforms can be ordered and posted to you direct.
Photocopying facilities are available although some material is too old or fragile to permit photocopying.
Swindon Borough Council’s Adult Social Care Services have retained their two star rating from Government inspectors and are going from strength to strength ........