Swindon is a large town in the South West of England, near the M4 motorway. The town, halfway between Bristol and London, is accessible from junction 15 or 16 of the M4 motorway, or by rail using Swindon station. With a population of over 160,000, Swindon is often cited as a "boom town" and new housing continues to be built especially to the west of the town. It is one of the fastest growing towns in Europe, with a low unemployment rate. It is in the borough of Swindon, which has been a unitary authority (UA) since 1998.
The Brunel Centre is a shopping mall in the town centre. There are also a number of High Street retailers in the Town Centre. The Parade is another shopping area in the town centre.
Retail parks include Greenbridge, West Swindon Shopping Cenre, Stratton and the Orbital Shopping Park.
McArthur Glen Designer Outlet is an undercover shopping mall for reduced price designer goods, using the structure of the disused railway engine works. The Outlet is adjacent to the Steam Museum.
Swindon has a large roundabout surrounded by several smaller roundabouts known as the "Magic Roundabout" (which became the main subject of a song by the local band XTC).
The two leisure centres are the Link Centre and the Oasis.
Broome Manor Golf Complex is a golf course set against the backdrop of the Marlborough Downs.
Public parks include Lydiard Country Park, Stanton Park, Barbury Castle, Queens Park and Coate Water.
Shaw Community Forest is being developed on the site of a former landfill site in West Swindon.
The National Monuments Record Centre is in Swindon, the home of English Heritage.
The original Saxon settlement of Swindon sat in a defensible position atop a limestone hill. It is referred to in the Domesday Book as Suindune, a name believed to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon words swine and dun meaning literally pig hill, or possibly Sweyn's hill where Sweyn would be the local landlord. Swindon remained a small market town, mainly for barter trade, until the mid-1800s. This original market area of Swindon is located on top of the hill in central Swindon and is now known as Old Town
Major employers include the Honda car production plant at South Marston, BMW in Stratton, mobile phone companies such as Motorola and Ubinetics and the retailer W H Smith which has its distribution centre and headquarters in Swindon. The computer company Intel also has its European head office on the south side of the town. Several insurance and financial services companies such as Nationwide Building Society and Zurich Financial Services, and pharmaceutical companies such as Patheon and Cardinal Health also have head offices in the town. Several of the UK's science Research Councils have their head offices in Polaris House, adjacent to the rail station.
Museum of Computing is based at Oakfield Campus, University of Bath in Swindon, Marlowe Avenue.
National Museum of Science & Industry, Wroughton
Railway Village Museum
Richard Jefferies Museum is dedicated to the memory of one of England's most individual writers on nature and the countryside.
Steam Railway Museum
Swindon Arts Centre is the home of the Swindon art scene.
Swindon Museum and Art Gallery
Suburbs of Swindon are Badbury, Bishopstone, Blundsdon, Chisledon, Liddington, Highworth, Sevenhampton, South Marston, Wanborough and Wroughton
Swindon Hotel, Swindon Bed and Breakfast, Swindon Cheap Hotel accommodation suitable for a Swindon Weekend Break, a Swindon City Break, Swindon Wedding Accommodation, Swindon Guys Night out, Swindon Girls Night out or even a Swindon Stag Night or a Swindon Hen Night