South Marston

South Marston is a village in north-east Wiltshire, England. The name Marston derives from the common English village name meaning marsh farm. It is part of the Borough of Swindon. Early in World War 2, a Ministry of Aircraft Production shadow factory and airfield were built for the Phillips & Powis (later Miles) aircraft company which built Miles Master training aircraft there. Short Brothers Ltd also used part of the airfield for final assembly and testing locally-built Stirling bombers and Vickers-Armstrong Supermarine acquired the site by the end of the war and continued to produce military aircraft such as the Attacker, Swift and Scimitar there until the early 1960s.

Demographics

As the economy and population of Swindon expanded through the latter half of the 20th century, so did that of South Marston; the purchase of the former Vickers-Armstrong factory airfield by Honda in 1985 and large residential development on the site of the Manor House in the mid-80s contributed to the diversification of the population to include industrial workers and commuting professionals.

History

Although the earliest documentary evidence for continuous settlement in the parish dates from the thirteenth century, there is fragmentary evidence for earlier occupation from as far back as the Bronze Age. Local wisdom has it that there were Roman remains just outside South Marston (on a field of Rowborough Farm), which have long...
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