Cirencester
 Roman Britain |
The ancient market town of Cirencester is often referred to as the capital of the Cotswolds. It boasts a history dating back to the Roman occupation of Britain. About 100 years after Julius Caesar had made his fleeting visit to these isles, the Romans arrived again and this time stayed to conquer and ‘Romanise' this most northerly part of their empire. In AD47 they built the famous Fosse Way, one of four major Roman roads in Britain, along whose length were built a series of defensive fortifications. The most famous of these was the fort at the junction with Ermine Street and Akeman Street, two other important Romano-British highways. Because of its critical situation at the crossroads, this fort rapidly established itself as an important military/civilian settlement called Corinium Dobunnorum , named after the local British tribe, the Dobunni, now conquered and in the process of being ‘Romanised'. By the 2nd century Corinium had become the second largest town in Roman Britain after London, a 240-acre fortified town of colonnaded streets and tremendous buildings.
Following the Roman invasion of AD43, a military base was established on the site of Roman Cirencester by AD49, and very soon after a civilian settlement began to grow-up nearby. The military provided a ready market place for traders in the town and in time Roman culture was imparted to the local citizenry, along with the dubious benefit of taxation.
In around AD75 the Roman garrison at Corinium Dobunnorum was transferred elsewhere and as the surrounding territory was now pacified the fortifications were dismantled. The civilian township was sufficiently well established to become the new administrative centre or civitas for the local tribal area populated by the Dobuani. Once the army had departed and the ramparts taken down, Corinium was remodelled and rebuilt toward the end of the 1st century AD, with the streets now following the familiar grid pattern. Early in the 2nd century a forum, or market place lined with shops, was constructed at the junction of Fosse Way and Ermin Street together with a massive basilica. Early in the 3rd century the town was encircled with its first defensive stone wall, a sign of its increasing prosperity.
Roman Cirencester has the distinction of being the second largest town of Roman Britain after London, with an estimated population of between 10-20000 inhabitants, which compares with modern day Cirencester. Corinium was almost certainly made the capital of Britannia Prima when Britain was divided into two provinces in the 4th century. The town's wealth is manifestly demonstrated by the splendid mosaics remaining to us, now in the local museum. Civic life continued well into the 5th century, long after the legions left in AD407, but social discipline eventually broke down and urban dwellers drifted away to the countryside.
The remains of the Roman amphitheatre are well worth a visit and although now grassed over, the banks still stand to a height of about 25ft above the arena floor and remain an impressive sight. Constructed in the early 2nd century AD, the amphitheatre is oval in shape with two entrance gaps still clearly visible. The banks had tiers of wooden seating laid on top, accommodating an estimated 8000 people, making it one of the largest amphitheatres in Roman Britain.
The award winning Corinium Museum houses one of the most spectacular collections of ancient Roman antiquities in the country. Besides the many finds that have been unearthed from the old Roman city now lying beneath a modern shopping centre, the museum presents a vivid reconstruction of numerous aspects of Roman life. These include a mosaic-maker's workshop, Roman garden, dining room and kitchen; there are also two remarkable floor mosaics - the Four Seasons and the Hunting Dogs. A further echo from its Roman past is the remains of a once flourishing amphitheatre on Querns Hill, an oval arena with twin entrances and a series of sloping earth banks, perhaps the largest and best preserved example of its kind in Britain.
The town remained Romano-British after the Roman withdrawal in the 4 th century until the year 577 when Saxon invaders put the town to the sword and destroyed it. This wave of conquerors built their own town on the site, and it rose sufficiently in importance to warrant a royal visit by King Canute; the settlement was now referred to by its Saxon name Coryn Caestre - Cirencester. The Norman Conquest of 1066 witnessed new occupants on the site, and here in 1117 King Henry I founded the Augustinian Abbey of St Mary. Destroyed during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16 th century, nothing now survives of this once great abbey except for a single Norman arch in the north-eastern corner of the Abbey grounds.
Cirencester enjoyed a further period of prosperity in the Middle Ages when it became the largest wool market in England; as befits such an important market town it was graced by a beautiful church. Like many other churches in the area its construction was financed by local wealthy wool merchants. Built in the 15 th and 16 th centuries, the Church of St John the Baptist is possibly the finest example of a Cotswold ‘wool' church. Not only the largest in the Cotswolds, the church is one of the largest in England, indeed larger than several British cathedrals.
St John's Church is constructed of glowing Cotswold stone and its soaring west tower is shown to wonderful effect, gazing imperiously down upon the colourful Market Place. Inside, the church is a rare treasure house, the plate being among the most interesting in England. The renowned silver and gilt Boleyn Cup is perhaps the best piece - made for Anne Boleyn in 1535 it bears her family crest on the lid; however, a pair of jug-shaped flagons from 1570 are considered of equal merit. Two rebellious earls were arrested by the townsfolk in 1399 and a grateful King Henry IV rewarded Cirencester handsomely - the reward was sufficient to cover the cost of the new church tower. The church's peal of 12 bells is the oldest in the country. A climb up the 120ft West Tower is rewarded by a breathtaking panoramic view of the ancient town's network of twisting narrow medieval streets.
Casting an eye across and beyond the ancient Market Place, mentioned in the Domesday Book, a fine Victorian building is easily identifiable as the Corn Hall, as is the Bear Inn on Dyer's Street, a classic timber-framed house with overhangs. Blackjack Street is reputedly named from a statue of St John located on the church, where stone became darkened with age. Coxwell Street can hardly have changed over the centuries - on one side the houses of wealthy wool merchants, on the other those of poor weavers. Spital Gate Lane contains a cluster of almshouses, being the 12 th cent St John's Hospital originally founded by Henry II. Thomas Street hosts the Weaver's Hall, continuously occupied since it was founded in 1425 for ‘poore weavers', and Dollar Street contains bow-windowed shops with dim interiors, some dating back to the 17 th cent. Brewery Arts, in Brewery Court, is a collection of craft units where resident craftspeople can be viewed making jewellery, baskets and other hand-made crafts.
Cirencester Park, the location of one of the world's most famous polo grounds lies to the west of town. The house is early 18th cent and home of Earl Bathurst. Although the house is not open to the public its grounds are. Walkers and horse riders are allowed to roam freely over the 3000 acre parkland, beautifully laid out by the Ist Earl Bathurst with the assistance of his close friend the poet Alexander Pope. Within walking range of the park are many lanes and wooded hills, among which lie a dozen pleasant villages including Sapperton and Bisley.
For further information see http://www.cotswolds.info/places/cirencester.shtml