Borough of Swale

Borough of Swale
Non-metropolitan district
Swale shown within Kent
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Non-metropolitan county	Kent
Status	Non-metropolitan district
Admin HQ	Sittingbourne
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	Swale Borough Council
• Leadership	Leader & Cabinet (Conservative)
• MPs	Helen Whately (C) Gordon Henderson (C)
Area
• Total	144.2 sq mi (373.4 km2)
Area rank	106th (of 309)
Population  (mid-2019 est.)
• Total	150,082
• Rank	137th (of 309)
• Density	1,000/sq mi (400/km2)
• Ethnicity[1]	96.1% White 1.3% S.Asian 1.1% Black 1.0% Mixed Race
Time zone	UTC0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code	29UM (ONS) E07000113 (GSS)
OS grid reference	TQ9018863720
Website	www.swale.gov.uk

The Kingsferry Bridge

Swale is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England and is bounded by Medway to the west, Canterbury to the east, Ashford to the south and Maidstone to the south west. Its council is based in Sittingbourne. The district is named after the narrow channel called The Swale, that separates the mainland of Kent from the Isle of Sheppey, and which occupies the central part of the district.

The district was formed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, from the Borough of Faversham; the Borough of Queenborough-in-Sheppey, which covered the whole of Sheppey; the Sittingbourne and Milton Urban District; and .

Most of the southern half of the Borough lies within the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, whilst Sittingbourne and the Isle of Sheppey forms the concluding part of the Thames Gateway growth area.^[2]

There are four towns in the borough: Sittingbourne and Faversham on the mainland, and Sheerness and Queenborough on Sheppey.

Economy[]

Swale is a mainly rural borough, containing a high proportion of the UK's apple, pear, cherry and plum orchards (the North Kent Fruit Belt^[3]), as well as many of its remaining hop gardens. Faversham has the Shepherd Neame brewery.

Sheerness is a busy port and previously produced steel. Sittingbourne has a variety of smaller industrial sites.

Transport[]

The Roman Watling Street passed through the area, as witness the straightness of the A2 main road, now by-passed by the M2 motorway.

There are two railway lines in Swale: the Chatham Main Line and the Sheerness Line, which meet at Sittingbourne.

Governance[]

Parishes[]

The district contains the following civil parishes:

References[]

External links[]

• Bored In Swale - an information site listing activities for the youth in Swale.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Swale.

Coordinates: 51°20′24.73″N 0°43′51.32″E / 51.3402028°N 0.7309222°E / 51.3402028; 0.7309222