St. Lawrence Church with Maude's Cottage

SWINDON VILLAGE, WYMAN'S BROOK

Swindon Village was included into Cheltenham Borough in 1991. This quiet residential area is situated to the north west of Cheltenham, approximately two miles from the town centre, and it centres around an old St. Lawrence's Church with its unique bell tower with six unequally sized walls. There are only two examples in Gloucestershire of this rare form of tower design.

The village contains a number of historic houses, such as Swindon Manor and Swindon Hall, an historic farm, the original school and post office buildings (now private houses) and a large recreational field, originally part of the grounds of Swindon Hall brought in 1951 by Cheltenham Borough Council to preserve for the benefit of the parish. Another fine building of the village, Maude’s Cottage, which lies just next to the church, belongs among the most picturesque single storey thatched cottages in Cheltenham.

The village is set within a low-lying landscape and is surrounded by predominantly agricultural land. The name Swindon describes a 'hill where swine were kept' and as Svindone it is mentioned in Domesday Book of 1086.

Swindon Village

A commemorative red granite horse trough is located on the green by the village hall and dates back to 1909. It was originally located by the Cross Hands Public House on Tewkesbury Road. It has an inscription recording the donation of the trough to the village by the daughters of a former MP for Cheltenham and a former resident of Swindon Hall.

Originally a separate village, housing and commercial development have gradually brought Swindon Village into Cheltenham. Modern housing of the 1960s has been carefully incorporated into the village. Bungalows with large spacious plots to retain the ‘openness’ and uncrowded character are characteristic of this era of housing development.

Kingsditch Lane, which was named from the ditch, dug possibly in the Saxon period, defining the boundary between the King's manor of Cheltenham and the manor of Swindon, owned by St. Oswald's Priory in Gloucester, is now home to Kingsditch Retail Park, a large retail park, including retail outlets such as PC World, Curry’s and M&S Simply Food. Gallagher Retail Park is situated further down Tewkesbury Road and with retail outlets such as Sainsbury’s, Next and Homebase provides excellent shopping facilities.

The 1960s and 1970s housing development called Wyman's Brook, situated between Swindon Village and Pittville, was named after a stream which runs through the north part of Cheltenham. For much of its length it forms the boundary between Cheltenham and Prestbury as it continues its way towards Swindon Village. The streets here were named after Cheltenham Gold Cup winners.

In the vicinity of Wyman's Brook, towards St. Paul's, are Cheltenham's two large sporting facilities - the Prince of Wales Stadium, which features a running track and rugby playing field, and the Leisure Centre, which includes three swimming pools and a state-of-the-arts gym.

HISTORY

Swindon Village has a rich history. The first settlement here was probably in the Roman times. It was included in the Domesday Book of 1086 when it belonged to St. Oswald's Priory.