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Swindon Leasing

Did You Know?

The Brit pop band Oasis took their name after singer Liam Gallagher saw the name “Oasis Leisure Centre” in Swindon as a venue from an “Inspiral Carpets” tour poster.

One of the most iconic buildings in Swindon, the Spectrum Building, was designed by the world-renowned architect, Norman Foster, and it is now a listed building and which was also used as a location in the James Bond film, A View to a Kill.

Swindon is home to many famous celebrities, including: Julian Clary, Diana Dors, Justin Haywood, David Hempleman-Adams, Mark Lamarr, Desmond Morris, Gilbert O’Sullivan – (Irish born, Swindon raised), Billie Piper, Ben Thatcher.

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, believed to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon words swine and dun meaning ‘pig hill’.

In 1840, Isambard Kingdom Brunel chose Swindon as the site for the railway works he planned for the Great Western Railway.

Swindon Town’s football Stadium was used as a Prisoner of War Hospital camp during the final stages of WWII. The camp was adapted to hold the growing numbers of captured Germans as the war drew to a close.

One of the most famous military aircraft in the world was built in Swindon – The Spitfire. Originally built in Southampton, production moved to a shadow Supermarine factory at South Marston after bombing destroyed their main south coast facility in 1940.

As well as the market there were 4 annual fairs. A fair was like a market but held only once a year. People would come from all over Wiltshire to buy and sell at a Swindon fair. Horses, sheep, and cattle were sold.

In 1994 South West Water was fined £3.5m for long term pollution of the water table.
This pollution led to a strange phenomena in the 70's and 80's whereby a high number of females were born with particularly large mouths.

The Wiltshire and Berkshire canal was built in 1810 and was followed by the North Wiltshire canal in 1819 both of which brought more trade to the area. By 1831 the population of Swindon had risen to 1,742.