Cirencester Travel Guide

Take the train from London Paddington to Kemble station (approx 1 hour 15 min), then catch the Stagecoach 882 bus for about 20 minutes directly to Cirencester town centre. First, visit the **Corinium Museum** — one of the UK's most important Romano-British collections, with the 4th-century 'Orpheus Taming the Beasts' mosaic floor as its centrepiece, plus a Jupiter column capital, Saxon exhibits and a medieval wool trade gallery. A 5-minute walk brings you to Market Place, dominated by **St John the Baptist Church**, revered as the 'Cathedral of the Cotswolds' — featuring a three-storey decorated south porch, a 1400 tower, the 1440 wine-glass-shaped stone pulpit and the 1535 Anne Boleyn Cup (made the year before her execution, later given by her daughter Elizabeth I to the town physician Richard Master, then donated to the church). Pass through the churchyard into the **Abbey Grounds**, where you can see surviving sections of Roman wall, a 12th-century Norman arch (the only above-ground remnant of the monastery) and a Victorian Gothic sham window. A 15-minute walk west leads to the **Roman Amphitheatre** — built in the early 2nd century, elliptical shape, capacity 8,000, managed by English Heritage and open free all day. Return to Market Square in the evening; if it happens to be Monday or Friday, catch the Monday Charter Market (approx 10:00-15:00) or Friday Charter Market (approx 9:00-15:00), browsing local produce, bread and crafts against the backdrop of St John's Church.

If staying overnight, use Cirencester as a gateway to explore the wider Cotswolds. In the morning, visit **Cirencester Park** — created from 1712 by the 1st Earl Bathurst under the guidance of poet Alexander Pope, one of England's earliest landscape gardens. The six-mile Broad Avenue tree-lined avenue leads to Sapperton village, passing Pope's Seat, the Hexagon summerhouse and Alfred's Hall built in 1721 — the oldest Gothic sham ruin in England. The park is open daily 8:00-17:00 free of charge, surrounded by the world's tallest yew hedge (over 45 feet). In the afternoon, drive or take a bus to **Bibury** to see Arlington Row (about 15 min) or **Bourton-on-the-Water** to cross the stone bridges (about 25 min). With more time, head to the **Cotswold Sculpture Park** in Somerford Keynes (open Apr-Sep, approx £13), featuring over 200 sculptures scattered among woodland and ponds. Return to Cirencester in the evening, finishing with a Double Gloucester cheese platter at the Kings Head pub.