Swindon's historic former railworks site has won the stamp of approval from heritage chiefs who will build a prestigious museum there tracing the British postal service's 400 year history.

The spot where Brunel built the Great Western Railway works nearly 170 years ago, now known as Churchward Village after a prominent Swindon locomotive engineer, is already a major heritage location.

It houses English Heritage's National Monuments Record, which contains millions of photos and documents from every town, city and village in the country, as well as the STEAM railway museum. Now the conservation area, where the National Trust also has its HQ will become home to a state-of-the-art British Postal Museum and Archive (BPMA), the collection of which has been designated as of outstanding national importance.

Following a 10-year search for a suitable location, the organisation will now build a first-class complex at Churchward after choosing Swindon in preference to sites in London, Bristol and Birmingham.

The aim is to put everything under the roof of a high-quality national attraction and prestigious institution to house a unique collection that reflects Britain's pioneering postal service.

The project will enable access to the BPMA's resources and provide purpose-built facilities to care for its wide-ranging collections, covering themes from British social history to communications.

It will care for the visual, physical and written records of more than four centuries of postal heritage and innovation, "illuminating the fascinating story of British postal communications."

Its collection ranges from stamps, staff records and poster design to photography, transport and telegrams. Chief executive Tony Conder said the complex, due to open in four years, would include a superb gallery for permanent and temporary exhibitions.

He said it would allow growth space for the organisation's archive, facilitating its ongoing collecting and also include an education centre and conservation studio.

It will further contain what is described as an amazing launch pad, designated for working with schools and higher educational institutions. Mr Conder said: "The relocation to Swindon is a fantastic opportunity for the BPMA to establish a centre for the long term, which will ensure the ongoing preservation of the nationally important collections we manage.

"It will also enable audiences to enjoy the treasures we hold well into the future. We are also looking forward to developing close links with the local community."

Subject to planning permission, the new museum and archive will be built on the site of the former GWR chain testing centre.

Founded in 2004, the BPMA is the leading resource for all aspects of British postal history.

It is custodian of two significant collections; the Royal Mail archive and the museum collection of the former National Postal Museum.