Swinburne is a little village just off the N3 road south of Harrismith, in the Free State province of South Africa. Swinburne is a stopover point for travellers between Johannesburg and Durban, perched on the edge of the Drakensberg escarpment. The village has few amenities above a basic shop, restaurant and pub. It has one of the oldest bridges in the Free State which was opened 1884 and spans the Wilge River.