:''For other meanings of 'swale' see
Swale (disambiguation).''
'Swale' is a
local government district in
Kent,
England. Its council is based in
Sittingbourne. The borough is named after the narrow channel called '
The Swale', a channel that separates the mainland of Kent from the
Isle of Sheppey, and which occupies the central part of the district.
The
Roman Watling Street passed through the area, as witness the straightness of the A2 main road, now by-passed by the
M2 motorway. Apart from northern coast of the Isle of Sheppey, and the immediate areas around the towns, it is a mainly rural borough.
The district was formed in
1974 under the
Local Government Act 1972, from the boroughs of
Faversham and
Queenborough-in-Sheppey (which covered all of Sheppey), the
Sittingbourne and Milton urban district and
Swale Rural District.
There are four towns in the borough: Sittingbourne and
Faversham on the mainland;
Sheerness,
Queenborough on the Isle. In addition local government is carried out by the following parish councils:
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Bapchild
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Bobbing
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Borden
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Boughton-under-Blean
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Bredgar
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Conyer
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Doddington
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Dunkirk
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Eastchurch
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Eastling
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Faversham
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Goodnestone
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Graveney
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Hartlip
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Hernhill
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Iwade
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Leysdown
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Lower Halstow
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Lynsted
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Kemsley
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Milstead
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Milton Regis
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Minster-on-Sea
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Murston
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Newington
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Newnham
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Norton Buckland & Stone
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Oare
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Ospringe
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Rodmersham
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Rushenden
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Selling
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Sheldwich, Badlesmere and Leaveland
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Stalisfield
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Teynham
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Throwley
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Tonge
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Tunstall
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Warden