II*House · listed 2013The Spectrum Building (formerly the Renault Distribution Centre)Photo: Brian Robert Marshall · CC BY-SA 2.0
Christ Church · Photo: My another account · CC0B−History Grade
History of Swindon · Historic England
187 listed buildings, 9 of them Grade II*
Historic England counts them inside Swindon’s built-up area, 10 for every 10,000 residents. It also has 5 scheduled monuments. 15% of its homes were built before 1919. We have photos of 9 of its listed buildings and 5 old views of the town. Swindon grades B− for history: #21 of 30 in Wiltshire.
Listed buildings
187
10 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
0
exceptional interest
Grade II*
9
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
5
3 registered parks & gardens
Homes built before 1919
15%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Swindon in 19 photos and old views
Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed, and the town before 1950. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
The Spectrum Building (formerly the Renault Distribution Centre)Grade II* listed
The Mechanics' InstituteGrade II* listed
Former Technical School Swindon including front wall and gateGrade II listed
British Rail Engineering Limited Swindon Works No 19 Shop, And No 20 Shop (North Bay) Old N ShopGrade II listed
Pig on the Hill Public HouseGrade II listed+14See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons and Geograph, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the building’s page or its official list entry.
Through time
Swindon from 1903 to 1933
An old map and 5 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.
1903
1903
1920s
1920s
1932
1933Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server. Each credit opens the image’s page with its full description and history.
The map
Where Swindon’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park, over the age of each neighbourhood’s homes.
Grade II*Scheduled monumentPark or garden
Homes built before 1919, by neighbourhoodunder 10%10–25%25–50%50%+
12 of 116neighbourhoods have mostly pre-1919 homes; in the oldest, 93% were built before 1919.
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
187 listed buildings by grade
0 Grade I9 Grade II*178 Grade II
Historic England lists buildings in three grades: Grade I for buildings of exceptional interest (about 2.5% of all listed buildings), Grade II* for particularly important buildings of more than special interest (about 5.8%), and Grade II for buildings of special interest (about 91.7%). Listing protects the whole building, inside and out.
Every entry on the National Heritage List for England whose point lies inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary. One list entry can cover a terrace or a group of buildings. Neighbourhood dots: the population-weighted centre of each Census 2021 output area, coloured by its neighbourhood’s (LSOA’s) share of homes built before 1919 (Valuation Office Agency, March 2025).
Grade II*
The 9 Grade II* listed buildings in Swindon
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. 6 are photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
II*Church · listed 1951Christ ChurchPhoto: My another account · CC0
II*House · listed 1970Swindon Mechanics' InstituteOn the list as The Mechanics' InstitutePhoto: Mika38240 · CC BY-SA 4.0
II*Public · listed 2000Health HydroOn the list as Health Hydro (former GWR Medical Fund Baths and Dispensary)Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*House · listed 1951Manor House and Manor CottagePhoto: PaulCooper555 · CC BY-SA 4.0
II*House · listed 1951Villetts HousePhoto: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0
Inns & shops · listed 1984British Rail Engineering Limited Swindon Works No 13 Shop (Old L2 Shop)
Inns & shops · listed 1984British Rail Engineering Limited: Swindon Works, No 12 Shop (V Shop), O and E Shop (32, 33 and 35 Shops)
House · listed 1984Chain Test House
Historic streets
High Street has the most listed buildings
Streets by the listed entries with an address on them. One entry can be a whole terrace, so long rows count once.
High Street10 listed
Emlyn Square9 listed
Oxford Street6 listed
Bath Road5 listed
Reading Street5 listed
Bathampton Street4 listed
East Street4 listed
Exeter Street4 listed
Wood Street4 listed
Church Place3 listed
Of the 187 entries, 77 are named by a street address; the rest are named buildings such as churches, halls and bridges.
What’s protected
Most of Swindon’s listed buildings are homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas123
Inns, shops & warehouses21
Churches, chapels & priories15
Walls, gates & bridges14
Public & civic buildings11
Street furniture3
123 entries (66%) are houses, terraces and villas. 15 are churches, chapels and priories.
Buildings are sorted by words in each entry’s name (church, gate, inn, memorial…): the list’s open data has no building type. An entry named only by its address counts as a house.
Grade II
178 Grade II listed buildings
Most listed buildings are in this grade, which covers buildings of special interest. Open any building to read its official list entry.
The first 150 of 178 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Anderson's HostelArmstrong monument in the south-west corner of the churchyard, Church of St MarkBadbury Wick Farm CottageBandstand in Town GardensBank HouseBath Road Methodist ChurchBath Road Museum Apsley House and Gate PiersBell HotelBelmont BreweryBoundary Wall to the east of the former GWR Carriage WorksBoundary Wall to the former Carriage Lifting Shop at the GWR WorksBowmaker House and Area RailingsBrick Boundary Wall to Former GWR Works (North)Brick Boundary Wall to Former GWR Works (West)British Rail Engineering Limited Swindon Works Locomotive Works Manager's OfficeBritish Rail Engineering Limited Swindon Works Main Office Block, GWR WorksBritish Rail Engineering Limited Swindon Works No 15 Shop (Q Shop) and Western Bay of Brass Stores (Formerly K Shop)British Rail Engineering Limited Swindon Works No 19 Shop, And No 20 Shop (North Bay) Old N ShopBritish Rail Engineering Limited Swindon Works No 20 Shop (Old R Shop)British Rail Engineering Limited Swindon Works TurntableBritish Rail Engineering Limited Swindon Works Wall to Former Sawmill and Shop to Carriage WorksCambria Baptist ChapelCanal Bridge, 300 Metres North East of the County, Or Magic RoundaboutCarriage Works No 7 ShopCarriage Works No 8 ShopCentral Community CentreChurch of St AugustineChurch of St BarnabasChurch of St Mark, boundary walls and gatepiersChurch of St MaryChurch of the Holy RoodChurchward Tomb, 60 Metres East North East in Churchyard of East Chance Wall, Christ ChurchClarence Street SchoolCorn Exchange and Town HallCoventry HouseCricket Pavilion, Cricket GroundEuclid Street School Including Area Railings and Former Training Workshops and Principals House to the RearEvans Chest Tomb in Churchyard of St Mary's Church, 9 Metres South of TowerFormer Bakers Arms Public House, 16 Emlyn SquareFormer Coach House at Groundwell HouseFormer GWR SchoolFormer GWR works entrance, pedestrian subway and former carriage trimming shopFormer Infants School at Clarence Street SchoolFormer St Mark's VicarageFormer Technical School Swindon including front wall and gateFormer model lodging house for GWR workers, later Wesleyan chapelGate Piers to the Lawns (Demolished)Gates to North East Entrance of Town GardensGazebo, Formerly Belonging to the LawnGoddard Arms HotelGooch Tomb in churchyard, about 24m north of north tower, Church of St MarkGranvilleGreystonesGroundwell HouseGroup of 5 Chest Tombs, 1 Metre East of South Porch, Church of St MaryGrove FarmhouseGuernsey FarmhouseHaydon FarmhouseHaydon Wick FarmhouseKings ArmsKiosk in Town GardensLower Shaw FarmhouseManor FarmhouseMausoleum Adjoining North Side of Chancel of Church of Holy RoodMilestoneMilestone Standing Outside Shop No 2-6No. 43 BATH ROADNumber 23 High Street with Number 1 the SquareNumber 9 ShopOffice Building to North of General OfficesPark FarmhousePark HousePattern Store and Water TankPig on the Hill Public HouseProspect HouseQueens HotelRedlandsRevetments to Dam of Former LakeRichard Jefferies Memorial in Churchyard of the Church of Holy Rood, 13 Metres North of ChancelSeymour Clinic, Kingshill HouseSquare HouseStables 6 Metres North of Manor HouseStone Building on Island Platform at Swindon Railway Station (MLN17716)Swimming Pool Dome at the Oasis Leisure CentreSwindon Civic OfficesThe Glue Pot Public HouseThe Great Western HotelThe LimesThe Prinnels Wick FarmhouseThe Royal OakThe Southbrook Public HouseThe Stripey Badger (formerly The Crumpled Horn)The former Swindon Steam LaundryTown HallTritton HouseWall to Graveyard of Holy Rood ChurchWall to `the Hermitage'Water TowerWestlecot ManorWick FarmhouseWiltshire Chest Tomb 4 Metres South East of East Corner of Chancel, Churchyard of St Mary's Church1, 1A, 2 and 2A, Church Place1, 1A, 2 and 2A, East Street1, 1A, 2 and 2A, Reading Street1, 2 and 3, Bristol Street including yard walls1, 2 and 3, London Street1, 2 and 3, Oxford Street1, 2, and 3, Bathampton Street1, The Planks1-15, Bath Road1-23 Taunton Street and yard walls1-4 Exeter Street with Yard Walls10-12, High Street11 and 13, Wood Street12, 12A, 13 and 13A, Emlyn Square12-13, Oxford Street14 Emlyn Square, formerly The Cricketers Public House14, High Street14, Oxford Street15, Emlyn Square15-30, Oxford Street16, High Street17 and 18, Newport Street17, Bath Road17, Emlyn Square18, High Street18a-18e, Emlyn Square19, Reading Street1A-1E, Emlyn Square2 3, The Planks2, Emlyn Square2, Faringdon Road2, High Street20, Reading Street21-29, Bath Road21-36, Reading Street212, Drove Road22 and 24, Marlborough Road22, Bath Road22, High Street24-27, Taunton Street25 and 26, Bathampton Street26, Bristol Street27-29, Bathampton Street28 and 29, Exeter Street2A-2E, Emlyn Square3 and 4, Church Place3 and 5, High Street3-18, Reading Street30, Marlborough Road
Conservation areas
6 conservation areas cover 3% of Swindon
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
Swindon Town Gardens 198948 ha
Swindon’s Railway Conservation Area 202148 ha
Swindon Old Town 196914 ha
Rodbourne Cheney 19906 ha
Swindon Prospect Place 19904 ha
Swindon Devizes Road 19902 ha
123 hain conservation areas, of 4,038 ha inside the built-up area.
The first, Swindon Old Town, was designated in 1969; the newest, Swindon’s Railway Conservation Area, in 2021. 141 of the 187 listed buildings stand in one.
Historic England’s conservation areas layer, supplied by councils (incomplete in places, so a page fact, never graded). Hectares are the part of each area inside the built-up area.
How the list grew
69 of Swindon’s 187 listed buildings were added in 1970
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1970 · 691986 · 531951 · 19
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 19 entries were listed in 1951. 69 came in 1970, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 6 have been added in the last 15 years.
Monuments & landscapes
Monuments, parks and gardens
Designations that overlap the town by a tenth of their area or half a hectare.
5 scheduled monuments
Nationally important archaeological sites and monuments, protected by law; work on them needs consent from the Secretary of State, advised by Historic England.
3 registered parks and gardens
History Grade
Swindon grades B− for history
Protected heritage and the age of the town’s homes, against all UK towns.
Protected heritage, for its size and in all (209 points, 11 per 10,000 residents)More than 58% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (15%)More than 43% of UK towns
Two measures, each ranked against every UK town of 1,000 or more, with protected heritage counting twice as much as the age of homes. Protected heritage counts each listed building by its grade (Grade I three points, II* two, II one), each scheduled monument and battlefield two, and each registered park or garden by its grade; it is ranked both per 10,000 residents and as a total, so a village with one fine church doesn’t outrank a historic city. The second measure is the share of homes built before 1919, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records. History is a character grade: it describes the town and isn’t part of the overall grade.
Born here
19 notable people born in Swindon before 1900
Their lives on one timeline, earliest first.
Samuel Lowder
Richard Jefferies
Henry Murgatroyd
William Millard
Samuel Knaggs
Sam Gillam
George Martin
William Overton
William Stanier
Edith New
Lionel Everett
Charlie Paynter
Andrew Soutar
Frederick Hawksworth
Leonora Eyles
Tom Davies
Bill Hinton
Ralph Bates
Bob Archer
1800182518501875190019251950
Richard Jefferies1848–1887 · British naturalist and writer (1848–1887)
Edith New1877–1951 · British suffraget
Ralph Bates1899–2000 · English novelist (1899-2000)
WS
William Stanier1876–1965 · Locomotive Engineer
FH
Frederick Hawksworth1884–1976 · British mechanical engineer and locomotive designer (1884-1976)
CP
Charlie Paynter1879–1970 · English footballer and manager (1879-1970)
BA
Bob Archer1899–1982 · English footballer (1899-1982)
WM
William Millard1856–1923 · Cricketer (1856-1923)
Everyone born in Swindon → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Towns its size
How Swindon compares with 50 towns its size
Places of 110,000–294,000 people outside London, by Grade I listed buildings.
Swindon0
#37 of 50for listed buildings per resident (10 per 10,000). York, Cheltenham and Huddersfield lead.
47 have more. Swindon is level with Oldham and Blackburn. The typical town its size has 4.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Swindon
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swindon | 183,687 | 187 | 0 | B− |
| Stratton St Margaret | 20,689 | 17 | 1 | C− |
| Broad Blunsdon | 6,507 | 24 | 0 | C+ |
| Wroughton | 7,276 | 39 | 1 | B− |
| Purton | 3,193 | 25 | 0 | B+ |
| Wanborough | 1,737 | 23 | 1 | B+ |
| Chiseldon | 2,033 | 24 | 1 | B |
| Royal Wootton Bassett | 13,002 | 51 | 0 | B− |
In brief
Swindon in brief
Swindon has 187 listed buildings, including The Spectrum Building (formerly the Renault Distribution Centre). On High Street alone there are 10 listed buildings. Its older streets lie in 6 conservation areas, the first designated in 1969. Of the whole list, 66% are houses, terraces and villas.
Of the 19 people born here before 1900, the best known include Richard Jefferies (1848), Edith New (1877) and Ralph Bates (1899). It also has 5 scheduled monuments, the archaeology and ruins the law protects. Most towns its size have more Grade I buildings: the typical one has 4. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: per resident it sits near the middle of UK towns; and 15% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 15% in the typical UK town.
Questions about Swindon’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Swindon?
Historic England lists 187 buildings inside Swindon’s built-up area: 0 Grade I, 9 Grade II* and 178 Grade II.
Which street in Swindon has the most listed buildings?
High Street (10), Emlyn Square (9) and Oxford Street (6) have the most listed entries named by an address. One entry can be a whole terrace.
Are there scheduled monuments in Swindon?
Yes, 5 scheduled monuments, including Bowl barrow 210m north east of Rushy Platt Farm, Medieval settlement remains at Badbury Wick, Remains of Holy Rood Church, The Lawn, Old Town and Roman pottery 140m SSW of Tewkesbury Cross.
How many conservation areas are there in Swindon?
6, covering about 123 hectares of the town. The largest are Swindon Town Gardens and Swindon’s Railway Conservation Area.
When were Swindon’s buildings listed?
The first in 1951; the most, 69, in 1970.
Are there old photos of Swindon?
Yes: 5 public-domain photos and postcards from 1903 to 1932, and an old map from 1933, all on this page.
Who was born in Swindon?
Among people born before 1900: Richard Jefferies (1848), Edith New (1877), Ralph Bates (1899), William Stanier (1876) and Frederick Hawksworth (1884).
How old are the homes in Swindon?
15% of homes were built before 1919 and 22% before 1940, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records (March 2025).
© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The National Heritage List for England is the official, up-to-date register of all nationally protected historic buildings and sites in England; check an entry on Historic England’s website before relying on it.
Sources: Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only · Historic England conservation areas (supplied by local planning authorities; October 2026). All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.