Cirencester

Cirencester (/ˈsaɪ(ə)rənˌsɛstə/ ^ⓘ SY-rən-SEST-ə, occasionally /ˈsɪsɪtə/ ^ⓘ SIS-it-ə) is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the Thames. Cirencester 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. The town is 18 miles (29 km) north-west of Swindon, 18 miles (29 km) south-east of Gloucester, 37 miles (60 km) west of Oxford and 39 miles (63 km) north-east 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. The earliest known reference to the town was by Ptolemy in AD 150. The town's Corinium Museum has an extensive Roman collection.