Central Swindon North is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

borough of Swindon The Borough of Swindon is a unitary authority area with borough status in Wiltshire, England. Centred on Swindon, it is the most north-easterly district of South West England. History The first borough of Swindon was a municipal borough, ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, England.

History

The parish of Central Swindon North was created in 2017, alongside Central Swindon South (later renamed to South Swindon). In 2022, the council opened a new accessible play park at Pinetrees Community Centre.

Geography and demographics

As its name suggests, the parish covers the northern half of the central area of the town, the east–west railway line separating it from South Swindon parish. Areas within the parish include Even Swindon, Rodbourne, Moredon, Pinehurst, Penhill and Gorse Hill. The River Ray, a minor river flowing north to join the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

, forms part of the western boundary of the parish. The population of the parish was 36,834 at the 2021 census.

Governance

The parish spans three wards which each elect three members of

Swindon Borough Council Swindon Borough Council is the local authority of the Borough of Swindon in the ceremonial county of Wiltshire, England. It was founded in 1974 as Thamesdown Borough Council, and was a lower-tier district council until 1997. In 1997 it was re ...

: Gorse Hill and Pinehurst, Rodbourne Cheney, and the eastern half of Mannington and Western. For Westminster elections, Central Swindon North is part of the Swindon North constituency.

Landmarks

Landmarks in the parish include: * The site of the

Swindon Works Swindon Works was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1843 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It served as the principal west England maintenance centre until closed in 1986. History In 1835, Parliament approved the construction of the Great ...

of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

, where locomotives and rolling stock were built and maintained between 1843 and 1986. Two former workshops and the Chain Test House, are

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

. Most of the site is now the Swindon Designer Outlet; also here are

STEAM Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

(the museum of the Great Western Railway), and the headquarters of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

and the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

(in the

Heelis Heelis is the central office of the National Trust, in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. Heelis was the married name of Beatrix Potter, one of the key figures in the early history of the National Trust. It was built in 2005 by Feilden Clegg Bradley St ...

building). * St Augustine's Church, Even Swindon – a

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

consecrated in 1908. * The

Oasis Leisure Centre The Oasis Leisure Centre (commonly called Swindon Oasis) was an entertainment and sports complex just outside the town centre of Swindon, Swindon, Wiltshire, England, with facilities including a lagoon swimming pool, gym, bar, and concert hall. ...

– a domed structure in operation from 1976 to 2020, expected to reopen in 2026. * The North Star campus of Swindon College * The headquarters of the

UK Space Agency The United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA) is an executive agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the United Kingdom's British space programme, civil space programme. It was established on 1 April 2010 to replace the Britis ...

* Swindon railway station and Swindon loco yard

References

External links