Swindon Mechanics' Institute is a

Grade II* In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

listed building in

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon unitary authority area had a populatio ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. It is located in the railway village area, which is today part of a

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

. The Swindon Mechanics' Institute served workers from the

Swindon Railway Works Swindon railway works was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1843 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It served as the principal west England maintenance centre until closed in 1986. History In 1835 Parliament approved the construction of the ...

History

Paid for via subscription by the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and r ...

workers based at

, the building was designed and constructed by Edward Roberts and completed in 1855. It contained a lending library and provided health services to workers. It was enlarged in 1892-93 to a design by

Brightwen Binyon Brightwen Binyon, FRIBA, (30 May 1846 – 21 September 1905) was a British architect. Life He was born at Headley Grange, Victoria Park, Manchester, the son of Edward Binyon (1791–1855), a sugar refiner and tea dealer, and his wife Jane née ...

, after which the committee opened up its health services to other local workers.

Nye Bevan Aneurin "Nye" Bevan PC (; 15 November 1897 – 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party politician, noted for tenure as Minister of Health in Clement Attlee's government in which he spearheaded the creation of the British National Healt ...

, mastermind of the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

later said: After the Institute closed in 1986, and after succumbing to both vandals and arsonists, it was saved from demolition by the council. In 2003 the building was acquired by Forefront Estates, who have been served with an urgent works notice by the

Borough of Swindon The Borough of Swindon is a local government authority in South West England, centred on the urban area and town of Swindon and forming part of the ceremonial county of Wiltshire. History In 1974 the Thamesdown district of Wiltshire was crea ...

References

{{coord, 51.5618, -1.7911, format=dms, type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Swindon Grade II* listed buildings in Wiltshire