Cirencester

Cirencester
Market town
Cirencester is located in Gloucestershire
Cirencester
Cirencester
Location within Gloucestershire
Population20,229 (2021 Census)[1]
OS grid referenceSP022021
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCIRENCESTER
Postcode districtGL7
Dialling code01285
PoliceGloucestershire
FireGloucestershire
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
WebsiteTown Council
List of places
UK
England
Gloucestershire
51°43′08″N 1°58′05″W / 51.719°N 1.968°W / 51.719; -1.968

Cirencester (/ˈsaɪrənsɛstər/ ⓘ SY-rən-sest-ər, occasionally /ˈsɪstər/ ⓘ SIST-ər; see below for more variations)[2] is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames. It is the eighth largest settlement in Gloucestershire and the largest town within the Cotswolds. It is the home of the Royal Agricultural University, the oldest agricultural college in the English-speaking world, founded in 1840. The town had a population of 20,229 in 2021.[1] The town is 18 miles (29 km) northwest of Swindon, 18 miles (29 km) southeast of Gloucester, 37 miles (60 km) west of Oxford and 39 miles (63 km) northeast of Bristol.

The Roman name for the town was Corinium, which is thought to have been associated with the ancient British tribe of the Dobunni, having the same root word as the River Churn.[3] The earliest known reference to the town was by Ptolemy in AD 150. The town's Corinium Museum has an extensive Roman collection.

Cirencester is twinned with the town of Itzehoe, in the Steinburg region of Germany.[4]

  1. ^ a b "Cirencester". City population. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  2. ^ Room, Adrian, The Pronunciation of Placenames: A Worldwide Dictionary Archived 17 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine, McFarland, 2007, pages 6 & 51
  3. ^ "Cirencester History Summary". Cirencester.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
  4. ^ "Town Council – Twinning with Itzehoe". Cirencester.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2011.