SWINDON. The towns of Old and New Swindon, in Wiltshire, England, are situated on several railway lines, about 77 miles west of London and 30 east-north-east of Bath. The old town is built on an eminence commanding fine views of the surrounding country. It received a charter for a fair from Charles I., and has weekly markets for corn and cattle. The church was erected in 1851, from the designs of Sir Gilbert Scott. There is a townhall and a corn exchange. Swindon New Town, to the north from Old Swindon, has grown up since the construction of the Great Western Railway, which has its principal works there. There is a market-house for meat, fish, and vegetables. Connected with the Great Western Railway mechanics’ institution there is a library of about 14,000 volumes. The combined areas of Old and New Swindon, which form separate urban sanitary districts, amount to 2524 acres, with a population in 1881 of 22,374. Old Swindon (area 1214 acres) had a population in 1871 of 4092 and in 1881 of 4696, and New Swindon (area 1310 acres) a population in 1881 of 17,678.