By Tim Lambert
1st Century AD The Romans build a fort at Cirencester and a civilian town grows up nearby
3rd Century Stone walls are built around Cirencester
5th Century Roman towns are abandoned
577 The Saxons capture Cirencester. Soon a little town grows up near the Roman remains.
1086 Cirencester is a small market town
1117 An abbey is founded at Cirencester
1215 The abbot is given the right to hold wool fairs
1461 A grammar school is opened in Cirencester
1539 Cirencester abbey is closed
1576-79 Plague strikes Cirencester
1643 During the Civil War royalists capture Cirencester
1645 The parliamentarians capture Cirencester
1758 Cirencester is struck by smallpox
1780 Cirencester is now a quiet market town rather than a wool manufacturing centre
1801 Cirencester has a population of about 4,000
1825 The Improvement Commissioners are formed in Cirencester
1833 Cirencester gains gaslight
1841 The railway reaches Cirencester
1856 A museum opens in Cirencester
1871 A cemetery opens in Cirencester
1882 Cirencester has a piped water supply
1894 Cirencester gains an urban district council
1908 Bingham Hall is built
1912 The first council houses are built in Cirencester
1975 A new library opens. Cotswold Leisure Centre opens.
1979 The Brewery Arts Centre opens
2001 The population of Cirencester is 19,000
Photo by Michael Elliott Photography