Museums and Heritage : Attractions of Swindon

STEAM - Museum of the Great Western Railway
Kemble Drive
Swindon
SN2 2TA
Tel: 01793 46 66 46

Wiltshire Family Attraction of the Year (Good Britain Guide). This exciting new museum is in a beautifully restored railway building in the heart of the Swindon Works. Find out why Swindon was famous for building the world’s greatest steam locomotives and discover what life was like for the railway workers. Children will love the interactive displays, including the simulated footplate ride on a steam locomotive.
You can walk underneath the magnificent Caerphilly Castle locomotive and climb aboard the footplate of the famous King George V.

There’s even a workshop where you can watch locomotives and carriages being repaired. The museum stages regular special events and exhibitions throughout the year, including special children’s events in the school holidays.

STEAM is family-friendly with baby-changing facilities and fully accessible to those with disabilities.
Snacks, light lunches, drinks and teas are available in the stylish balcony cafe. The shop has an impressive range of gifts, books and souvenirs.

STEAM is open daily. Mon. - Sat: 10am - 5.30pm; Sunday: 11am - 5.30pm. Closing time is 5pm in the winter.
Prices: Adult: £5.95 Child: £3.80 (5 - 15); OAP & Concessions: £3.90; Under 5s: free; Family Ticket: £14.00 (2 adults & 2 children). Group rates available.

STEAM is next to the Great Western Designer Outlet and a short walk from the rail station and town centre. By car, follow signs for Outlet Centre. Parking is in Outlet Centre car parks (hourly charge applies).
Your ticket gives you free admission to the Railway Village Museum, just a short walk away.

SWiNDON MUSEUM
Bath Road
Old Town
Swindon
SN1 4BA
Tel: 01793 466566
Fax: 01793 484141

The museum has displays of local pre-history, geology, archaeology and social history. includes some fascinating finds from Roman settlements in the area. The museum also stages temporary exhibitions on a wide range of subjects - telephone for details or see our Events section.

Open: Mon.- Sat: 10am - 5pm; Sunday: 2pm - 5pm. Closed Bank Holidays. Admission is free. Disabled access to ground floor only. Audio tour for visually impaired.

SWiNDON ART GALLERY
Bath Road
Old Town
Swindon
SN1 4BA
Tel: 01793 466556
Fax: 01793 484141

The Swindon Collection of 20th Century British Art is one of the most significant collections outside the Tate Gallery. it includes works by Nicholson, Moore, Lowry, Sutherland and Hodgkin.

The Gallery also hosts temporary exhibitions. Not all the collection is on permanent display so please telephone in advance for details of the current exhibition.

Open: Mon. - Sat: 10am - 5pm; Sun: 2pm - 5pm; closed Bank Holidays. Admission is free.

NATiONAL MONUMENTS RECORD - English Heritage
Kemble Drive
Next to ‘STEAM’ museum
Swindon
SN2 2GZ
Tel: 01793 414600
Fax: 01793 414606

The entire heritage of England is here in Swindon! The public archive of English Heritage provides information on the architecture and archaeology of England and contains over 10 million items, including historic and aerial photographs, maps, plans and drawings. if you are researching local history you’ll find the search rooms a treasure trove of information. The NMR is in the splendidly restored former general offices of the Great Western Railway and includes a high-tech modern storage facility for the most valuable documents.
The Gallery, which has a shop and exhibition area, is open Wednesday to Sunday, from 11am to 5pm. Admission free. Tel:01793 414797.

The Public Search Rooms are open Tuesday to Friday all year, except for Bank Holidays and Christmas and New Year. Hours: 9.30 - 5.00. Appointments are not necessary but telephone in advance if you need a rare document. There are occasional Saturday openings from 10am to 4pm. For the rest of 2001 these are: 18th August, 15th September, 20th October, 17th November, and 15th December.

The NMR is next to the STEAM museum and walking distance from the town centre and rail and bus stations.

SWiNDON & CRiCKLADE RAiLWAY
Blunsdon Station
Tadpole Lane
Blunsdon
Swindon
SN25 2DA
Tel: 01793 771615 (weekends)

Step back into a bygone era and take a ride on Wiltshire’s only standard gauge steam train at the Swindon and Cricklade Railway. The Railway has been entirely reconstructed by volunteers who, twenty years ago, took over an empty trackbed. Today it is a fully functioning railway and has recently opened a second station at Hayes Knoll where visitors can view the steam and diesel locomotive collection.

Visitors can also enjoy a wide range of facilities at the Heritage Railway centre. The Swindon and Cricklade Railway operates a programme of special events throughout the year, see the website for details, trains also run regularly on most Sundays between 11am and 4pm. The railway can be reached from the A419 northbound, turning left for Swindon Stadium and then bearing right and following signs for the railway. Approx. 4 miles north of Swindon town centre.

SCiENCE MUSEUM
Wroughton Airfield
Swindon
SN4 9NS
Tel: 01793 846200
Fax: 01793 813569

The Science Museum in Wroughton is located on a former World War Two airfield and stores and conserves large objects from the national collections including air transport, land transport, agricultural machinery, computers, firefighting, machine tools, space rockets, and large scientific instruments. All of the objects are in six hangers, each covering over an acre of land. The collection is open during a programme of school holiday and weekend events. individual hangars and parts of the site are available for corporate hire.

MUSEUM OF COMPUTiNG @ SWiNDON

University of Bath in Swindon
Marlowe Avenue
Swindon
Tel: 01793 872146

The first computing museum in Britain for a primary purpose of education. The museum holds many collections including software, home computers and TV and handheld electronic games. Guided tours are available and entrey is free.

Opening Hours: Monday to Thursday 0830 - 1800, Friday 0830 - 1700 and Saturday 09:00-1300.
Directions: From M4 take the A419 to the Commonhead roundabout and follow signs for A4312 to Greenbridge roundabout. Go into Dorcan way then right into Greenbridge Way and left into Marlowe Avenue.

RiCHARD JEFFERiES MUSEUM
Coate Water
Marlborough Road
Next to Sun inn
Swindon
Tel: 01793 466566

Richard Jefferies (1848 - 1887) was a celebrated writer on the English countryside. His classic children’s book ‘Bevis’ was set around Coate Water.
This small museum in the farmhouse where he was born contains manuscripts, first editions and personal items. it also commemorates the work of Alfred Williams (1877 - 1930), the Swindon railwayman, scholar and poet known as the ‘Hammerman Poet’.
OPEN: 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month, 2pm - 5pm, May to September only.
Further information about Richard Jefferies is available from the Secretary of the Richard Jefferies Society, Tel: 01865 735678. Further information about Alfred Williams is available from the Secretary of the Friends of Alfred Williams, Tel: 01793 349575.
A free guided walk leaflet around places in Old Town associated with Richard Jefferies is available from Swindon Museum in Bath Road.

AVEBURY STONE CiRCLE
Avebury
Nr Marlborough
Tel: 01672 539250

Just 10 miles south of Swindon, is the largest Henge monument in Britain. The Stone Circle is managed by the National Trust; you can wander around the stones and experience the mystery and mystique of this prehistoric wonder. Avebury is one of the most important megalithic monuments in Europe and spread over a vast area, much of which is under Trust protection. The great stone circle, encompassing part of the village of Avebury, is enclosed by a ditch and external bank and approached by an avenue of stones. Many of the stones were re-erected in the 1930s by the archaeologist Alexander Keiller.

The site Museum, including a new exhibition in the 17th-century thatched threshing barn, presents the archaeological story of Avebury. Finds from the site and interactive and audio-visual displays are used to tell the story of the monuments and the people who have helped to reveal their past. West of Avebury, the iron Age earthwork of Oldbury Castle crowns Cherhill Down, along with the conspicuous Lansdowne Monument. With the spectacular folds of Calstone Coombes, this area of open downland provides wonderful walking opportunities.