THAMESDOWN

district (borough), county of Wiltshire, southern England, occupying an area of 89 square miles (230 square km) some 35 miles (55 km) east of Bristol in the northeastern part of the county. Thamesdown district consists of the railroad town of Swindon and its adjacent areas. Mostly a fertile clay valley, Thamesdown's northern boundary is defined by the upper reaches of the Thames River, and it is bordered on the south by the steep chalk escarpment of the Marlborough Downs. The hamlet of Inglesham northeast of Swindon has an unrestored, mostly 13th-century church. Pop. (1986 est.) 162,800.