Swindon, Staffordshire

Coordinates: 52°30′47″N 2°12′14″W / 52.51293°N 2.20383°W / 52.51293; -2.20383

Swindon is a village and civil parish located in Staffordshire, just outside the West Midlands conurbation. The nearest major town is Dudley, approximately five miles eastwards. It stands halfway between the small town of Kingswinford and village of Wombourne.

Historically, Swindon was part of Seisdon rural district, but in 1974 was incorporated into the new local authority of South Staffordshire.

Schools

Churches

Graffiti

Shops and Pubs

History

Swindon was formerly part of the parish of Wombourne, but was administratively distinct. A manor belonged to Englefield family, the lords of Englefield, Berkshire, as part of the manor of Himley. This manor was demised to John de Somery, Baron Somery the tenant in chief ub c.1316 and by 1346 passed to his nephew John de Sutton II, who had succeeded to the barony of Dudley. The manor then descended as part of the family estates in the area at least until William Humble Eric Ward, 3rd Earl of Dudley sold his local estates in 1947.

Swindon

Coordinates: 51°34′N 1°47′W / 51.56°N 1.78°W / 51.56; -1.78

Swindon ( pronunciation ) is a large town within the Borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, 35 miles (56 km) to the west and Reading, 35 miles (56 km) to the east. London is 71 miles (114 km) to the east. In the 2011 census, the population of the built-up area of Swindon was 185,609. The larger borough had a population of 209,000, including the small town of Highworth and the large village of Wroughton, an increase of 16.2% since 2001.

Swindon was named an Expanded Town under the Town Development Act 1952 and this led to a major increase in its population.Swindon railway station is on the line from London Paddington to Bristol. Swindon Borough Council is a unitary authority, independent of Wiltshire Council since 1997. Residents of Swindon are known as Swindonians. Swindon is home to the Bodleian Library's book depository, which contains 153 miles (246 km) of bookshelves.

Borough of Swindon

The Borough of Swindon is a local government authority in South West England. It is centred on the town of Swindon and forms part of the ceremonial county of Wiltshire. It was formed in 1974 as the Thamesdown district of Wiltshire, from former areas of the municipal borough of Swindon and Highworth Rural District.

On 1 April 1997 it was made administratively independent of Wiltshire County Council, with its council becoming a new unitary authority. It adopted the name Swindon on 24 April 1997. The former Thamesdown name and logo are still used by the main local bus operator, Thamesdown Transport Limited.

Geography

The borough of Swindon occupies an area in the north east corner of Wiltshire and is bordered by two other counties, Gloucestershire (to the north) and Oxfordshire (to the east). Also, West Berkshire is only a short distance from the borough’s south eastern tip. The landscape is marked by the River Thames guiding the northern border and the Marlborough Downs encroaching to the south.

Swindon (disambiguation)

Swindon is a large town in Wiltshire, United Kingdom.

Swindon may also refer to:

Swindon, Wiltshire:

See also

Staffordshire

Staffordshire (/ˈstæfədʃɪər/ or /ˈstæfədʃə/; abbreviated Staffs) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands of England. The Cannock Chase AONB is situated within the county and also parts of the National Forest, as well as areas of the Peak District national park. It adjoins Cheshire to the north west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the south east, West Midlands and Worcestershire to the south and Shropshire to the west.

The largest city in Staffordshire is Stoke-on-Trent, which is administered separately from the rest of the county as an independent unitary authority. Lichfield also has city status, although this is a considerably smaller cathedral city. Major towns include Stafford (the county town), Burton upon Trent, Cannock, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Leek and Tamworth.

Wolverhampton, Walsall, West Bromwich and Smethwick were historic Staffordshire towns until local government reorganisation created the West Midlands county in 1974.

Apart from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire is divided into the districts of Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, South Staffordshire, Stafford, Staffordshire Moorlands, and Tamworth.

Staffordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Staffordshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Members of Parliament until 1832.

History

Boundaries and franchise

The constituency, which first returned members to Parliament in 1290, consisted of the historic county of Staffordshire, excluding the city of Lichfield which had the status of a county in itself after 1556. (Although Staffordshire also contained the boroughs of Stafford and Newcastle-under-Lyme, and part of the borough of Tamworth, each of which elected two MPs in its own right for part of the period when Staffordshire was a constituency, these were not excluded from the county constituency, and owning property within the borough could confer a vote at the county election. This was not the case, though, for Lichfield.)

As in other county constituencies the franchise between 1430 and 1832 was defined by the Forty Shilling Freeholder Act, which gave the right to vote to every man who possessed freehold property within the county valued at £2 or more per year for the purposes of land tax; it was not necessary for the freeholder to occupy his land, nor even in later years to be resident in the county at all.