Cirencester - Local geography, History, The name of the town, Leisure and entertainment, Education, Bibliography

51°44N 1°59W, pop (2000e) 15 700. Market town in Gloucestershire, SWC England, UK; in the Cotswolds, on the R Churn, 22 km/14 mi NW of Swindon; second largest town in Roman Britain during 2nd-c AD; electrical goods, engineering; Royal Agricultural College; 14th-c Church of St John the Baptist, Corinium museum.

Cirencester is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, 93 miles (150 km) west northwest of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in Cotswold District. The town's Corinium Museum is well-known for its extensive Roman collection.

Local geography

Cirencester lies on the lower dip-slopes of the Cotswold Hills, an outcrop of oolitic limestone. Natural drainage is into the River Churn which flows roughly north to south through the eastern side of the town and joins the Thames near Cricklade a little to the south.

The town is split into five main areas: The town centre, the suburbs of Chesterton, Stratton, and Watermoor (originally villages outside the town) and the Beeches Estate (a 1950s housing development). The village of Siddington to the south-west of the town is now almost connected to Watermoor.

The town serves as a centre for the surrounding area, providing employment, amenities, shops, commerce, and education.

Transport

Cirencester is the hub of a significant road network with important routes to Gloucester (A417), Cheltenham (A435), Warwick (A429), Oxford (A40 via the B4425), Wantage (A417), Swindon (A419), Chippenham (A429), Bristol and Bath (A433), and Stroud (A419).

These good transport links bring the town passing trade. Although the ring-road and by-pass take traffic away from the town centre, both roads have busy service areas with adequate parking. Access to the railway system is at Kemble railway station on the main line to London (Paddington), about four miles from the town.

History

Roman Corinium

When the Romans built a fort where the Fosse Way crossed the Churn, to hold two quingenary alae tasked with helping to defend the provincial frontier c. 70, but the town persisted and flourished under the name Corinium Dobunnorum.

Even in Roman times, there was a thriving wool trade and industry, which contributed to the growth of Corinium.

The amphitheatre still exists in an area known as the Querns to the SW of the city, but has not been fully excavated. Investigations in the town show that it was fortified in the fifth or sixth centuries.

There are many Roman remains in the surrounding area, including several Roman villas near the villages of Chedworth and Withington.

Medieval history

The minster church, founded in the 9th or 10th Century, was probably a royal foundation.

The Normans

At the Norman Conquest the royal manor of Cirencester was granted to the Earl of Hereford, William Fitz-Osbern, but by 1075 it had reverted to the Crown. The manor was granted to Cirencester Abbey, founded by Henry I in 1117, and following half a century of building work during which the minster church was demolished, the great abbey church was finally dedicated in 1176. The manor was granted to the Abbey in 1189, although a royal charter dated 1133 speaks of burgesses in the town.

The struggle of the townsmen to prove that Cirencester was a borough, and thus gain the associated rights and privileges, probably began in the same year, when they were amerced for a false presentment. They claimed that the royal charter that conferred on the men of Cirencester the liberties of Winchester had been destroyed when fifty years prior the abbot had bribed the burgess who held the charter to give it to him, whereupon the abbot had had it burned.

Yet the townspeople continued in their fight: for their aid to the crown against the earls of Kent and Salisbury, Henry IV in 1403 gave the townsmen a gild merchant, although two inquisitions reiterated the abbot's rights.

Tudor Cirencester

As part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, Henry VIII ordered the total demolition of the Abbey buildings. Today only the Norman Arch and parts of the precinct wall remain above ground, forming the perimeter of a public park in the middle of town.

Sheep rearing, wool sales, weaving and cloth-making were the main strengths of England's trade in the Middle Ages, and not only the abbey but many of Cirencester's merchants and clothiers gained wealth and prosperity from the national and international trade.

During the Civil War

The English Civil War came to Cirencester in February 1643 when Royalists and Parliamentarians came to blows in the streets.

Recent history

At the end of the 18th Century Cirencester was a thriving market town, at the centre of a network of turnpike roads with easy access to markets for its produce of grain and wool. A local grammar school provided education for those who could afford it, and businesses thrived in the town, which was the major urban centre for the surrounding area.

In 1789 the opening of a branch of the Thames and Severn Canal provided access to markets further afield, by way of a link through the River Thames.

The loss of canal and the direct rail link encouraged dependency on road transport. An inner ring road system was completed in 1975 in an attempt to reduce congestion in the town centre, which has since been augmented by an outer bypass with the expansion of the A417. Kemble Station to the west of the town, distinguished by a sheltered garden, is served by fast trains from Paddington via Swindon.

In 1894 the passing of the Local Government Act brought at last into existence Cirencester's first independent elected body, the Urban District Council. The reorganization of the local governments in 1974 replaced the Urban District Council with the present two-tier system of Cotswold District Council and Cirencester Town Council.

The name of the town

The name stem Corin is cognate with Churn (the modern name of the river on which the town is built) and with the stem Cerne in the nearby villages of North Cerney, South Cerney, and Cerney Wick;

In Saxon times the name of the town was written Cirrenceastre or Cyrneceastre (the Saxon 'c' was pronounced like the 'ch' in change).

Today it is usually pronounced /ˈsaɪrənˌsɛstə/, although occasionally it is still /ˈsɪsɪtə/),

Leisure and entertainment

Cirencester has an important tourist trade as well as providing shopping, entertainment, and sports facilities for the inhabitants of the town and the surrounding area.

Sites of interest

The parish church of St John the Baptist, often referred to as the Cathedral of the Cotswolds, has a nave built in 1515–1530, and also features a high embattled tower and a remarkable south porch with parvise.

To the west of the town is Cirencester House, the seat of Earl Bathurst.

On Cotswold Avenue is the site of a Roman amphitheatre which, while buried, retains its shape in the earthen topography of the small park setting.

Sport

In April 2006 the Cotswold Leisure Centre moved to its new site, the centre is run by the local district council. The town also has an open air swimming pool, this is run by a charity and local volunteers and is only open during the summer months.

Football

The local football club, Cirencester Town F.C., plays in the Southern League Premier Division.

The club is designated by The Football Association as a Community Club because each week it provides football awareness, coaching and competition for over 300 children ranging from age 6+ to 18.

As well as the main pitxh there is six additional football pitches, mainly used by the junior football teams.

The town also has another football team Cirencester United F.C.

Other Sports

Cirencester also has a Netball Club, Cirencester Ladies, with three squads.

The town has its own Rugby Club who are based at the Whiteway.

The town also has Cirencester Polo Club, the oldest polo club in the UK. Its main grounds are located in Earl Bathurst's Cirencester Park.

Education

The town and the surrounding area have several Primary schools and two Secondary schools, Deer Park School located on the Stroud Road and Kingshill off the London Road. The town used to have a 500 year old Grammar Shool, which in 1966 joined with the Scondary Modern to form Cirencester Deer Park School. In 1991 Cirencester College was created taking over the sixth form of Deer Park, the College is located ajecent to the Deer Park School.

The town also hosts the Royal Agricultural College which is located between the Stroud and Tetbury Roads.

Bibliography

H.P.R.