Swindon is a large town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located in South West England, Swindon lies on the M4 corridor, 71 miles (114km) to the west of London and 36 miles to the east of Bristol. The Cotswolds lie just to the town's north and the North Wessex Downs to its south.
Chippenham is a market town in north-west Wiltshire, England. It lies 13 miles (21 km) north-east of Bath, 86 miles (138 km) west of London and is near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon, where some form of settlement is believed to have existed since before Roman times. It was a royal vill and probably a royal hunting lodge, under Alfred the Great. The town continued to grow when the Great Western Railway arrived in 1841. It had a population of 36,548 in 2021.
Billie Paul Piper is an English actress and former singer. She initially gained recognition as a singer after releasing her debut single "Because We Want To" at age 15, which made her the youngest female singer to enter the UK Singles Chart at number one; her follow-up single "Girlfriend" also entered at number one. In 1998, Piper released her debut studio album, Honey to the B, which was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Her second studio album, Walk of Life, was released in 2000 and spawned her third number-one single, "Day & Night". In 2003, Piper announced that she had ended her music career to focus on acting.
Purton is a large village and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, about 4 miles (6 km) northwest of the centre of Swindon. The parish includes the village of Purton Stoke and the hamlets of Bentham, Hayes Knoll, Purton Common, Restrop, The Fox and Widham.
Royal Wootton Bassett, formerly Wootton Bassett, is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 13,570 at the 2021 Census. In the north of the county, it lies 6 miles (10 km) to the west of the major town of Swindon and 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Calne.
North Wiltshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by James Gray, a Conservative. In the period 1832–1983, this was an alternative name for Chippenham or the Northern Division of Wiltshire and as Chippenham dates to the original countrywide Parliament, the Model Parliament, this period is covered in more detail in that article.
Minety (/'maɪn.tiː/) is a village in north Wiltshire, England, between Malmesbury – 6 miles (9.7 km) to the west – and Swindon. It takes its name from the water mint plant found growing in ditches around the village, and has previously been known as Myntey. It has a primary school and a successful rugby club.
Lydiard Park Academy, formerly known as Greendown Community School, is a mixed sex comprehensive secondary school for students aged between 11 and 18 years in the Grange Park area of Swindon, England. As of December 2022, there were 1271 students enrolled. It adopted academy status in August 2011 and is the founding member of The Park Academies Trust.
Freshbrook is a suburb in the west of Swindon, England, close to junction 16 of the M4 motorway. Most houses in the area are found in culs-de-sac, except for those on the few main roads. The suburb is served by the shops of a small "village centre" and has a primary school.
Swindon Academy is a non-selective co-educational school within the English academy programme, in the Pinehurst area of Swindon, north of the town centre. It caters for children aged 3 to 19 and has 1,883 pupils on roll as of September 2023.
Braydon is a civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, about 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Swindon, between Purton and Minety. A thinly-populated farming area with no settlements apart from the farms, it is best known for sharing its name with Braydon Forest. The population of the parish was 48 in 1881 and was little changed in 2011, at 43.
The Forest of Braydon is an historic royal hunting forest in Wiltshire, England, the remnant of which lies about 6 miles north-west of Swindon. In medieval times it encompassed about 30,000 acres.
Malmesbury is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately 14 miles (23 km) west of Swindon, 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Bristol, and 9 miles (14 km) north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upper waters of the Bristol Avon and one of its tributaries.
Leigh is a village and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southeast of Ashton Keynes and 2.5 miles (4 km) west of Cricklade. It is on the edge of the Cotswold Water Park and near to the county border with Gloucestershire. The parish includes the hamlet of Waterhay.
Malmesbury School in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, England, was founded in 1971 with the merger of Malmesbury Grammar School at Filands with Bremhilam Secondary Modern at Corn Gastons.
The Dean Academy is a mixed secondary school located in Lydney in the English county of Gloucestershire.
The John of Gaunt School is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in Trowbridge in the English county of Wiltshire. The school is named after John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, as the school is built upon land that he once owned.
The Ridgeway School & Sixth Form College is a mixed secondary school and sixth form in Wroughton, near Swindon in the English county of Wiltshire.
