VI Cirencester (Corinium)

What3words – expensive.teacher.shaves

Visited June 2011

Construction Date -

Capacity - 8,000

Cirencester is a Cotswold town with some fine straight Roman Roads approaching it. It lost its railway link in the ‘Beeching’ cuts of 1964 and is widely known for the Royal Agricultural College whose students (often with a predilection for the tweed jacket/raspberry corduroy look) frequent the local pubs.

Lots of Roman stuff in the locality and the local museum reflect the fact that it was second only in size to Londinium in size and importance. To the south of the town centre, adjacent to the Bristol Road is the amphitheatre. To the visitor it appears as a grassy oval surrounded by undulating banks. Its shape is far more defined when viewed on an aerial photograph. To date it has not been fully excavated but the received wisdom is that, like Silchester, it was constructed by raising earth banking with wooden outer walls and seating. It dates from the 2nd century and is estimated to have had a capacity of 8,000, one of the largest in Britain.