Why Swindon was chosen as the Railway town for the GWR.

There is a popular tale about how Swindon came to be chosen as the home of the Great Western Railway’s works. Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his locomotive superintendent, Daniel Gooch, were out in Wiltshire looking for a suitable place for the railway’s engine works. The Great Western Railway’s main line was to run from London Paddington to Bristol, via Reading, Swindon and Bath, with lines on to Exeter and beyond. Legend has it that they decided to build the works wherever a crust from their lunch, or a stone, happened to land.

The Real Reasons

Sadly, the legend is probably just that. Swindon was chosen for practical reasons. It sat at the point where the line to Gloucester and Cheltenham branched off the main line, and where the gentle gradients from London gave way to steeper ones further west, making it a natural place to change engines. It was also served by the Wilts and Berks Canal, which could bring in coal, and parts of the old canal route later became roads in the town.

A Growing Railway Town

The works opened in the early 1840s, and the railway transformed Swindon from a small market town into a major industrial centre, with a new railway village built for the workers. Ask any of the Accountants Swindon based, and they will tell you it made sound financial sense. If you want the best ones, visit https://chippendaleandclark.com/.