Why Swindon and Pigs Go Back a Long, Long Way

"IMG_20140520_100121_884" (CC BY 2.0) by Green Mountain Girls Farm

 

It’s all in the name

 

In fact, the history of the county and its porkers are so closely entwined that the name Swindon is even thought to be a derivation of the words “swine town”. This dates back to the days when Swindon was one of the county’s major market towns and a place on which farmers and smallholders from all around Wiltshire would converge to buy and sell their pigs.

 

There were a number of reasons why the pig was by far the most popular farm animal of the region while other southern counties like Devon were more famous for their dairy cattle. The

 

first was that the natural oak forests and low moorlands of the area made them perfect grazing grounds for the animal which didn’t need the lush grasslands that cattle need to thrive. The other key fact was that before the coming of the Industrial Revolution much of the population consisted of poor rural dwellers who generally kept one or two pigs for personal consumption.

 

The family pig

 

But these were no luxury livestock or even pets. Often they were the only reliable food source that families had so it was vital that every single part of the pig could be put to good use to provide high-energy, low-cost food. Although today we often associate pork with creative, gourmet burgers and sandwiches and similar high-end dishes, folks back in the day would make sure they knew how to make use of the entire pig.

 

A great example of this is one of the best known Wiltshire recipes, lardy cake. You might not find it on many restaurant menus today but it was a big local favourite back in the day when its combination of a simple bread dough filled with pockets of pig fat and dried fruit that was then sprinkled with sugar and spices made it the perfect farm-workers’ energy source. After all, when they were working for hard days in the fields, and long before the advent of machinery to take on the toughest tasks, they could do with all the help they could get.

 

Hamming it up

 

As for Wiltshire ham itself, this is still a big favourite today and has a distinctive flavour and texture all of its own. Partly this comes from the pigs’ diet that we’ve already mentioned which helps to create a darker ham than usual and the unique curing method is also important. As well as the traditional salt, the addition of molasses, and sometimes sugar too, creates the uniquely sweet yet savoury taste of this local favourite.