Our next Meeting will be in
September. Details should be
available in August.
Welcome to Cirencester
Archaeological &
Historical Society
We are always happy to
see new members. Do
browse our site to see
what we do. While our
meetings were
interrupted, we have
other interests, such as
our projects and the
publishing of short
articles in our
Newsletters or
WebNotes. News items
will usually be on this
page, though more may
be found on our
facebook page.
Members also receive e-
mails about other groups
activities from time to
time. If you are a
member and not getting
these, please contact us.
Registered Charity 287289
Our last talk of the season was on May 25th. Celia Haddon told us
about the first Olimpick games, held in the county during the reign of
Charles I. We also held our AGM live for the first time since 2019
In June we have a visit: Saturday 11th June 2022 - ‘Soils, Snails and
Stonehenge’ A day visit to Mike Allen and his environmental
archaeology lab, followed by a guided walk along the Stonehenge
Avenue. Please contact Ann Buffoni ASAP if you are interested in
this trip. Membership is not required.
We are still seeking at least two committee members, to cover
retirements, specifically to deal with membership and to run this
website.
Volunteer or offer suggestions to cahs@cirenhistory.org.uk
The 2022-3 Season will start in September. The new programme
is normally available in August. The subscription year begins 1st
September. Rates have not changed.
Social media: We are now on Facebook, twitter and Instagram. See
links at the bottom of every page.
Webnotes instead of Newsletter
Last summer’s publication came as a WebNote, our new way of
publishing. Go to WebNotes>
We hope to publish a few more items during the year. If you have a
story that you think our readers might enjoy, please contact our
editor, David Viner in the first instance.
Our musical committee member Martin Graebe has been busy
during lockdown writing a book on the forgotten songs of the
upper Thames. Find out about it here.
Martin has also kindly provided facilities for us to use Zoom for
most of last season’s talks.
Volunteering opportunity
Canon Graham Morris is looking for more volunteers to act as
Church guides. More>
In conjunction with Cirencester Civic Society and the Town Council,
we have helped fund a new information board on Cirencester’s
Waitrose Store, describing the previous uses of the site.
There is much to explore on this site. See Projects, Places and
Publications. If we have your email address, we can send you items
of interest from time to time, including occasional meetings of
sister societies..
The demolition and rebuilding of flats off The Avenue,
Cirencester, brought an article in our Newsletter 49 of 2009 on
Public Art to the fore. The planning assessment shows much
archaeology under the site, believed to be the original Roman town
centre. The site is now being rebuilt.
Gloucestershire Archives are always keen to hear about any old
documents, maps etc that are coming up for sale by auction in
order to bring them to public access. Sometimes they are able to
raise money to buy them for the archives before auctions push the
price up. Claire Collins is Head of Collections and can be contacted
by anyone with any information.
The centenary of the WW1 Armistice has been and gone, but we
are still receiving updates and enquiries about our information on
those who died and even survived the war…
Mike Tovey of Chedworth has written to introduce us to the work
that villagers have produced about their Great War dead. Between
them they have found out enough to fill a two hundred page book.
If you have relatives from there, or are merely interested in how
others have researched the period, the book is freely available on
https://chedworth.org.uk
If you have more information than we have published about any of
the people on the Cirencester monuments, do drop us a note.
Ray Wilson has sent an article about local historical maps available
online at the National Library of Scotland. Yes, local to here!
KnowYourPlaceWest now has mapping for Wilts, Gloucestershire
and Somerset. Maps from about 1840 to date can be compared,
and, after moderation, you can add historical information. Do
watch the video to see how to use it! Have fun! Tithe maps have
been added where they exist.
A Century Ago...
With the Centenary of the 1918 Armistice now passed, we
record those who died later…
RALPH MORTIMER WRIGLEY whose parents lived at The
Barton died in hospital on 6 November aged 21, a
Lieutenant with 3rd Railway Company, Royal
Monmouthshire Royal Engineers. He is commemorated on
their memorial in the Priory Church at Monmouth.
1918 November 11: Armistice Day - ceasefire on the
Western Front.
1918-1919: A world-wide influenza pandemic continued
throughout the winter.
WILLIAM SHILL died on 22 November, age 26, a Private in
A Company 11/OBLI. His parents Richard and Louisa Helen
of Field Barn Ewen had lost a younger son HOWARD in
1916.
FREDERICK GEORGE ALLEN or ALLAN died in December
1918 having been discharged that April as unfit for further
military service. In 1911 he had lived at 30 Victoria Road
with a wife and small daughter. As a married man of 40 he
could have claimed exemption from conscription but
enlisted at Bath in February 1916 in the Somerset Light
Infantry.
FREDERICK WILLIAM RICHINGS was born in 1877, son of
Alfred and Roseanna of 77 City Bank Road. He had 24 years
service with the Glosters including the Siege of Ladysmith,
and had been wounded in 1917. He had been promoted to
Sergeant Major and awarded the Meritorious Service
Medal. FREDERICK died at home on leave whilst awaiting
demobilization, shortly before his intended marriage. He is
buried in Cirencester Cemetery
CYRIL LAWSON COLE - Captain 2/5 Glosters and Transport
Officer 184 Infantry Brigade died on 14 March 1919. He was
the third son of William Henry and Catherine of Bourne
House Brimscombe to die.
MARK A WRIGHT died the next day, aged 39. He served as
Sapper in 54 Division Signals Company. He was son of
Alfred Benjamin of Cirencester and husband of Agnes,
living in Burton on Trent.
Both men are buried in Etaples, a base area in Northern
France where there were several hospitals. Their names are
not on the St John’s Church memorial erected in November
1918.
1919 June 28: Treaty of Versailles signed, declaring
Germany guilty of causing the war and liable to pay
reparations.
PERCY GEYTON’s name was added after his death on 29
July 1919. He had served as Second Lieutenant in the
Machine Gun Corps. PERCY had attended Cirencester
Grammar School and became a bank clerk working in
Devizes. His father lived at 6 Cricklade Street and was a
wine merchant’s manager.
JOHN KENT is buried in Cirencester Cemetery. He died on
26 October 1919 aged 46. He had served as Staff Sergeant
Farrier in 19 Hussars and left a wife, Gertrude Mary
ARTHUR CHARLES HAINES had served as a Sergeant in the
Royal Marines Light Infantry, on HMS Cornwallis in the
Dardanelles and then in HMS Lord Nelson. He died at
home, 10 Whiteway Road Spitalgate, of illness resulting
from service, on 15 February 1920.
CHARLES HENRY NEWELL’s name was added to St John’s
Church memorial following his death on 1 September 1920
of injuries received in the war. He had served as a Corporal
and is buried in Cirencester Cemetery
JULIA HERBERT is the only woman commemorated on
Cirencester war memorials. She was a volunteer nurse at
Bingham Hall.
Three Cirencester men who died after the war as a result of
wounds or illness are buried in Cirencester Cemetery; all
three left widows living in the town -
W GARDINER - Corporal 25/Middlesex died on 13 May
1921 aged 37;
C HOOPER - Sergeant 5/Glosters died 19 June 1921 aged
60.
JESSE BENJAMIN WRIGHT - Private 3/Rifle Brigade died on
25 August 1921 aged 37.
Timeline written by Dale Hjort
More about some of these men can be found in our WW1
biography section.
A chronology of deaths of all WW1 names on the
memorials can be found in Newsletter 61.
Page last updated 27 May 2022
Navigating our site
Not all pages are
immediately apparent
from the links at the top.
The Great War
biographies, covering very
many pages, have
internal links. and the
articles reprinted from
our past publications are
linked from the relevant
Newsletter page. There is
a facility to browse these
at random at the bottom
of most articles.
The old Memorial Hospital recently
demolished, on Sheep Street (used
within the last 30 years) contained the
Bannatyne memorial staircase. It was
carefully removed and sent to relatives in
Ireland, making way for demolition and
refurbishment of the car park.
Cotswold Archaeology has written a
number of studies for CDC that are
worth reading. These articles are now
lost to the revamping of CDC website,
but might be available from Cotswold
Archaeology. The web is not a reliable
publishing medium!
Click the picture above to read David
Viner’s notes on the Hospital and the
Staircase.
The building across Sheep Street, called
the Memorial Hospital Annex, is still in
NHS use. It has the Great War memorial
panels on its side. We have an article
about this building.
Can’t find it? See
Navigating our site
Copyright Cirencester Archaeological & Historical Society 2006-2022
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meeting? Whether a
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email address to
cahs @ cirenhistory.org.uk
(without the spaces!)