Swindon, Gloucestershire
Historical Description
Swindon, a village and a parish in Gloucestershire, 2 miles NNW of Cheltenham, with a post office under Cheltenham; money order and telegraph office, Cheltenham. Acreage, 730; population, 243. The manor belongs to the Stratford family. Swindon Hall is the chief residence. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; net value, £245 with residence. The church is Norman and Early English, and was restored in 1846.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Gloucestershire | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Swindon St. Lawrence | |
| Hundred | Cheltenham | |
| Poor Law union | Cheltenham |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Phillimore transcript of Marriages at Swindon 1638-1837, Gloucestershire is available to browse online.
The register dates from the year 1606.
The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.
Churches
Church of England
St. Lawrence (parish church)
The church of St. Lawrence is an ancient building of stone in the Norman and Early English styles, consisting of chancel, nave of six bays, aisles, south porch and a hexagonal western tower, with unequal sides, containing 4 bells: there are some interesting monuments and brasses to the Stratford, Surman and Rickett families, including a brass to eight members of the Surman family, 1730-1843; a brass to John Sturmy, 1650; a tablet to John Stratford, 1776, and Elizabeth his wife, 1787; and other memorials to the Long family, 1771-1802: there are seven stained windows: the church was restored in 1846 at a cost of £1,300, and has 250 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Swindon from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Swindon (St. Lawrence))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Swindon are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers covering Gloucestershire online:
- Gloucester Citizen
- Gloucester Journal
- Gloucestershire Chronicle
- Gloucestershire Echo
- Cheltenham Chronicle
- Cheltenham Looker-On
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of the county of Gloucester, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.