Swindon's Post-War Expansion: The Silver Book and New Town Vision

National context: New Towns and overspill

After the Second World War, Britain faced a housing crisis and a need to redirect population growth. The New Towns Acts of 1946 and later legislation created designated New Towns – such as Milton Keynes, Telford, and Stevenage – to absorb population from overcrowded cities.

Swindon was among the towns that accepted "London overspill": families and workers moving out of the capital to new or expanding communities. The town offered jobs (the railway works, then diversifying industry), good transport links, and space to grow. For Swindon, expansion was also a chance to move beyond dependence on the railway and build a more diversified economy.

The "New City" report and the Silver Book

In 1964, a government report titled "A New City" recommended Swindon over Newbury as the most suitable location for major expansion in the West Berkshire and North Wiltshire region. Four years later, in 1968, planners from Swindon Borough, Wiltshire County Council, and the Greater London Council published "Swindon – A Study for Further Expansion."

Known as the Silver Book because of its distinctive silver cover, the document set out an ambitious vision: Swindon's population should grow from 100,000 (in 1961) to 400,000 by the year 2000. Central government later scaled back the target to around 250,000, but the scale of ambition was clear: Swindon was to become a major regional city.

West Swindon and Toothill

The Silver Book proposed westward expansion – new housing, schools, and infrastructure spreading across the countryside. Development proceeded more slowly than the planners had hoped. West Swindon took shape gradually through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Toothill, as part of West Swindon, received its first residents in April 1976. Many people moving in came from London and the South East, seeking affordable housing and a different quality of life. The new estates were built to modern standards, with green space, schools, and community facilities – a deliberate contrast to the cramped terraces of inner London.

What happened to the vision?

The 400,000 target was never met. Economic changes, political shifts, and resistance to large-scale development all played a part. Growth occurred within existing borough boundaries as well as to the north and east, not only westward. By the early 21st century, Swindon's population was around 220,000 – significant growth, but short of the Silver Book's original ambition. Nevertheless, the expansion that did happen transformed Swindon. West Swindon, Toothill, Shaw, and the newer developments at Wichelstowe are all part of the legacy of that 1960s vision. Swindon remains one of the fastest-growing towns in the South of England – a place that continues to attract new residents, and whose shape was forged in the optimistic planning of the post-war decades.