Swale is a local government district in Kent. 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 and the Swale Rural District. There are four towns in the borough: Sittingbourne and Faversham on the mainland; Sheerness, Queenborough on the Isle.