Plaums Pit derives its name from George Plaum an entrepreneur who purchased the Rodbourne Bathing and Boating Pool in the 1920s with financial help from a Bristol business man. The lake, like the one in Queens Park, began life as a clay pit feeding Victorian Swindon’s rapacious brick making industry.  Indeed many of the local houses were built using clay from the pit hence that’s where Kiln Lane off of Cheney Manor Road gets its name from

In later years the Pit offered a number of leisure activities including swimming, boating and fishing. Today the pit is leased from the local council along with the two lakes at Wichelstowe. Both locations offer mixed fishing for some 250 members.