The Swindon Heritage Action Zone

Information and visual aids

A short history of the Railway Village

For nearly 150 years Swindon was home to the locomotive works of the Great Western Railway (GWR). From its opening in 1843 with 180 employees, the Works site expanded rapidly and at its peak, in the early 20th century, over 14,000 people worked there.

The GWR Works closed in 1986 and became a conservation area the following year. Since then, many of its historic buildings have found new uses.

The GWR Works attracted people from all over the UK to Swindon. There was no accommodation near the GWR Works site so GWR instructed Brunel to design a village of 300 cottages. The village was laid out around a central green space called the High Street with four terraced streets branching off to the east and west, all named after stations along the GWR line.

A cricket field, church and school were soon provided on land to the west of the village and shops and pubs facing onto the High Street followed within a few years. Buildings such as the Mechanic’s Institution and Health Hydro were constructed later in order to support the social, educational and health needs of residents.

During the HAZ we carried out research and gathered information to improve our understanding of Swindon’s history and to inform the HAZ projects. We received help from local heritage groups, STEAM Museum, Local Studies, the Historic England National Archive, the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre and specialist consultancies. The results of this research can be viewed here:

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