Editing Cirencester (section)

==History==
[[File:Roman Amphitheatre Cirencester.jpg|thumb|The Roman amphitheatre]]

=== Roman Corinium ===
{{main|Corinium Dobunnorum}}

Cirencester is known to have been an important early [[Roman Britain|Roman]] area, along with [[St Albans]] and [[Colchester]], and the town includes evidence of significant area roadworks. The Romans built a ''[[castra]]'' (fort) where the [[Fosse Way]] crossed the Churn, to hold two quingenary (i.e. 500 men) [[Ala (Roman military)|alae]] tasked with helping to defend the provincial frontier around AD 49, and native [[Dobunni]] were drawn from [[Bagendon]], a settlement {{Convert|3|mi|4=0}} to the north, to create a civil settlement near the fort. When the frontier moved to the north after the conquest of [[Wales]], this fort was closed and its fortifications levelled around the year 70, but the town persisted and flourished under the name Corinium.{{cn|date=March 2025}} 

Even in Roman times, there was a thriving wool trade and industry, which contributed to the growth of Corinium.{{cn|date=March 2025}} A large [[forum (Roman)|forum]] and [[basilica]] were built over the site of the fort, and archaeological evidence shows signs of further civic growth. There are many Roman remains in the surrounding area, including several [[Roman villa]]s near the villages of [[Chedworth]] and [[Withington, Gloucestershire|Withington]]. When a defensive wall was built around the Roman city in the late 2nd century, it enclosed {{Convert|240|acre|km2|1}}, making Corinium the second-largest city by area in Roman Britain. The details of the provinces of Britain following the [[Diocletian Reforms]] around 296 remain unclear, but Corinium is now generally thought to have been the capital of [[Britannia Prima]]. Some historians{{who?|date=March 2025}} would date to this period the pillar erected by the [[governors of Roman Britain|governor]] [[Lucius Septimius (Roman governor)|Lucius Septimus]] to the [[Roman god|god]] [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]], a local sign of the pagan reaction against Christianity during the principate of [[Julian the Apostate]].{{cn|date=March 2025}}

[[Cirencester Amphitheatre]] still exists in an area known as the [[Querns area, Cirencester|Querns]] to the south-west of the town, but has only been partially [[excavation (archaeology)|excavated]].{{cn|date=March 2025}} Investigations in the town show that it was fortified in the 5th or 6th centuries.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

===Post-Roman and Saxon===
Linguist [[Andrew Breeze]] claims that [[Gildas]] received his later education in Cirencester in the early 6th century, showing that it was still able to provide an education in Latin rhetoric and law at that time.<ref>[[Andrew Breeze]], 'Gildas and the Schools of Cirencester', ''The Antiquaries Journal'', 90 (2010), p. 135</ref> Possibly this was the palace of one of the British kings defeated by [[Ceawlin of Wessex|Ceawlin]] in 577.{{cn|date=March 2025}} 

In the 7th century, Cirencester was the site of the [[Battle of Cirencester]], this time between the [[Mercia]]n king [[Penda of Mercia|Penda]] and the [[Wessex|West Saxon]] kings [[Cynegils of Wessex|Cynegils]] and [[Cwichelm of Wessex|Cwichelm]] in 628.<ref>''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', ''sub anno'' 628.</ref>

The [[minster (cathedral)|minster church]] of Cirencester, founded in the 9th or 10th century, was probably a royal foundation.{{cn|date=March 2025}} It was made over to Augustinian canons in the 12th century and replaced by the great [[Cirencester Abbey|abbey church]].

===Norman===
At the [[Norman conquest of England|Norman Conquest]] the royal [[Manorialism|manor]] of Cirencester was granted to the [[Earl of Hereford]], [[William Fitz-Osbern]], but by 1075 it had reverted to the Crown.{{cn|date=March 2025}} The manor was granted to [[Abbey House, Cirencester|Cirencester Abbey]], founded by [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] in 1117, and following half a century of building work during which the minster church was demolished, the abbey church was finally dedicated in 1176. The manor was granted to the Abbey in 1189, although a [[royal charter]] dated 1133 speaks of [[burgess (title)|burgesses]] in the town.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}} The abbots obtained charters in 1215 and 1253 for fairs during the octaves of All Saints and St Thomas the Martyr, and the significant wool trade gave these great importance.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Cirencester|volume=6|pages=391–392}}</ref>

The struggle of the townsmen to gain the rights and privileges of a [[borough]] for Cirencester probably began with the grant of 1189, when they were [[amercement|amerced]] for a false presentment, meaning that they had presented false information. Four inquisitions during the 13th century supported the abbot's claims, yet the townspeople remained unwavering in their quest for borough status: in 1342, they lodged a Bill of complaint in [[Court of Chancery|Chancery]].<ref name="EB1911"/> Twenty townspeople were ordered to [[Westminster]], where they declared under oath that successive abbots had bought up many [[burgage]] tenements, and made the borough into an appendage of the manor, depriving it of its separate court. They claimed that the royal charter that conferred on the men of Cirencester the liberties of Winchester had been destroyed 50 years earlier, when the abbot had bribed the burgess who held the charter to give it to him, whereupon the abbot had had it burned. In reply, the abbot refuted these claims, and the case passed on to the [[Court of King's Bench (England)|King's Bench]]. When ordered to produce the foundation charter of his abbey the abbot refused, apparently because that document would be fatal to his case, and instead played a winning card. In return for a fine of £300, he obtained a new royal charter confirming his privileges and a writ of ''supersedeas''.

The townspeople continued in their fight: in return for their aid to the Crown against the earls of Kent and Salisbury, [[Henry IV of England|Henry IV]] in 1403 gave the townsmen a [[Merchant]]'s [[Guild]], although two inquisitions reiterated the abbot's rights. The struggle between the abbot and the townspeople continued, with the abbot's privileges confirmed in 1408–1409 and 1413, and in 1418 the abbot finally removed this thorn in his side when the guild merchant was annulled. In 1477 parliament declared that Cirencester was not corporate. After several unsuccessful attempts to re-establish the guild merchant, in 1592 the government of the town was vested in the [[bailiff]] of the [[Lord of the manor]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

===Tudor===
As part of the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]] in 1539, [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] ordered the total demolition of the Abbey buildings. Today only the [[Norman architecture|Norman]] Arch and parts of the precinct wall remain above ground, forming the perimeter of a public park in the middle of town. Despite this, the freedom of a borough continued to elude the townspeople, and they only saw the old lord of the manor replaced by a new lord of the manor as the king acquired the abbey's title. Cirencester became a [[borough#Parliamentary boroughs|parliamentary borough]] in 1572, returning two members, although this was deprived of representation in 1885.<ref name="EB1911"/>

Sheep rearing, wool sales, weaving and woollen [[broadcloth]] 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{{who?|date=March 2025}} and clothiers gained wealth and prosperity from the national and international trade.{{cn|date=March 2025}} The tombs of these merchants{{which?|date=March 2025}} can be seen in the [[Church of St John the Baptist, Cirencester|parish church]], while their fine houses of [[Cotswold stone]] still stand in and around Coxwell Street and Dollar Street. Their wealth funded the rebuilding of the nave of the parish church in 1515–1530, to create the large building sometimes referred to as the "Cathedral of the Cotswolds".{{cn|date=March 2025}} Other [[wool church]]es can be seen in neighbouring [[Northleach]] and [[Chipping Campden]].

===Civil War===
The [[English Civil War|Civil War]] came to Cirencester in February 1643 when [[Cavalier|Royalists]] and [[Parliament of England|Parliamentarians]] came to blows in the streets. Over 300 were killed, and 1,200 prisoners were held captive in the church. The townsfolk supported the Parliamentarians but [[gentry]] and clergy were for the old order, so that when [[Charles I of England]] was executed in 1649 the minister, Alexander Gregory, wrote on behalf of the gentry in the parish register, "O England what did'st thou do, the 30th of this month".

At the end of the war, King [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] spent the night of 11 September 1651 in Cirencester, during [[Escape of Charles II|his escape]] after the [[Battle of Worcester]] on his way to France.

===Modern history===
At the end of the 18th century, Cirencester was a thriving [[market town]], at the centre of a network of [[Turnpike trust|turnpike]] roads with easy access to markets for its produce of grain and wool. From 1461, [[Cirencester Grammar School]] provided a [[grammar school]] education for those who could afford it, and businesses thrived in the town, which was the [[market town]] for the surrounding area.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

[[File:Castle Street Cirencester 30th Aug 2001.jpg|right|thumb|Cotswold stone buildings in Castle Street]]

In 1789, the opening of the Cirencester branch (or "arm") of the [[Thames and Severn Canal]] provided access to markets further afield, by way of a link through the River Thames. In 1841, a branch railway line was opened to [[Kemble, Gloucestershire|Kemble]] to provide a link to the Great Western Railway at [[Swindon]]. The [[Midland and South Western Junction Railway]] opened a station at [[Cirencester Watermoor railway station|Watermoor]] in 1883. Cirencester thus was served by two railway lines until the 1960s.

The loss of the 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 road. Coaches depart from London Road for [[Victoria Bus Station]] in central London and [[Heathrow Airport]], taking advantage of the [[M4 Motorway]]. Kemble Station to the west of the town, distinguished by a sheltered garden, is served by fast trains from [[Paddington station]] via [[Swindon]].

The passing of the [[Local Government Act 1894]] at last brought into existence the town's first independent elected body, the Cirencester Urban District Council. A reorganisation of local government in 1974 replaced the Urban District Council with the present two-tiers of [[Cotswold District|Cotswold District Council]] and Cirencester [[Town Council]], sitting below [[Gloucestershire County Council]].

Under the patronage of the Bathurst family, the Cirencester area, notably [[Sapperton, Gloucestershire|Sapperton]], became a major centre for the [[Arts and Crafts movement]] in the Cotswolds, when the furniture designer and architect-craftsman [[Ernest Gimson]] opened workshops in the early 20th century, and [[Norman Jewson]], his foremost student, practised in the town.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

=== Archaeology ===
A 3,500-year-old [[Bronze Age Britain|Bronze Age]] [[spear]] was found in 2022 during landscaping at a [[Thames Water]] sewage works. Archaeologists also uncovered prehistoric pottery fragments, flint tools, and animal bones from the Bronze Age, [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]], and [[Roman Britain|Roman period]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 May 2022 |title=Ancient spear unearthed |url=https://www.thameswater.co.uk/about-us/newsroom/latest-news/2022/may/cirencester-archaeology |access-date=2022-08-11 |website=Thames Water |language=en |archive-date=19 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230519025431/https://www.thameswater.co.uk/about-us/newsroom/latest-news/2022/may/cirencester-archaeology |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-05-18 |title=Bronze Age spearhead found at Cirencester sewage works |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-61476377 |access-date=2022-08-11}}</ref>