Cirencester Archaeological and Historical Society

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Our next meeting is on Friday 10th September at 7.30pm when we visit the Friend's Meeting House for the opening lecture of Cirencester's Heritage Open Days, which we sponsor. See the Heritage Open Days programme for all the other activities. Items might be added to this until about mid August, so check back later, too.

Next year's programme is now published. You should have received the programme card and Newsletter. If you have not, please contact the Secretary. The electronic version of the programme has lots of links to enable you to learn ahead of each talk.

17th Century Sat-Nav? This intriguing lead is for the summer exhibition "Transport and Travel in Cirencester" 10am-2pm on September 11 and 25th in the Bingham Gallery, Dyer Street, Cirencester. Admission free.

Need to find something historical to do this summer? Children to entertain? Browse throught the local museum sites below for their summer activities

Avoid the subscription rise. The annual subscription rises by £1 per person in September, unless you have a standing order. If you would like to make out a standing order, please contact the Membership Secretary.

The Society sadly has to report the death of Alan McWhirr. Alan was President of the Society for ten years in the 1980s and 90s and was instrumental in the setting up of the Cirencester Excavations Committee that eventually evolved into Cotswold Archaeology Trust, of which he was a Board member. A full obituary appears in the current Newsletter. An obituary from Leicester University, which your webmaster also attended in the 60s appears here If you knew Alan, the University is holding a meeting in tribute to him on October 23rd. Contact Professor Marilyn Palmer, author of the obituary link, if you wish to attend.

The 2009-10 season's programe is now completed, but the programme page remains to serve as a record. It can be found under Past Programmes.

Cirencester: Please drive slowly through the town

This sign was auctioned in a recent sale at Norcote Saleroom, together with another cast iron sign inscribed "Siddington Road". The Society is interested in signs ancient and modern in Cirencester, so it is pleasing to report that these particular signs now remain in Cirencester, where they belong. We have a policy of recommending street names that are locally meaningful to the street naming authority, Cotswold District Council. A bank of names of local merchants of the last century has been garnered from pictures of members of Cirencester Chamber of commerce in the days long before national multiples appeared. Some of these names are now appearing in new developments around Cirencester..

Heritage Open Days 2010 will be from 10th-12th September. The organisers are now looking for helpers to man open buildings for an hour over that weekend. If you are able to spare some time please contact us.

Our 50 Year Quiz!

In 2005 to celebrate our 50th anniversary a members quiz was held, with 50 questions and a £50 booktoken prize, which was won by Leslie Jones. We will repeat the questions over the coming year to give you a chance to catch up on the ones you could not solve 5 years ago.Try it here

April 2010

We have added a copy of our policy on planning matters, written at the beginning of the century.

Look out for our Projects page, coming soon.

If you are thinking of doing some local research in Cirencester or your village do let us know. We have some ideas for Cirencester and are looking for volunteers. Contact the chairman, mentioning this site. Note we do not do family history as that is covered well by the Gloucestershire Family History Society.

If you are a visitor to this page because of an interest in local history, see our contacts page for advice on the material on offer in the Bingham Library. You may also be interested in our publications

November 2009

History helps climate change research

Admiralty logbooks, including those of HMS Beagle, which detail weather seen by sailors, going back as far as 1760 have been digitised by the UK Colonial Registers and Royal Navy Logbooks project. This data is then being used to build pictures of changing weather patterns around the globe since the start of the industrial era. The data will have historical uses too. Do take a peek.

April 2010

Are you a detectorist? Have you found something interesting? Is it Treasure Trove? The law of Treasure Trove was replaced in 1996 by the Treasure Act, which clarifies and extends the definition of treasure. To find out more see www.finds.org.uk

August 2009

CBA website

The Council for British Archaeology (to which the society belongs) has revamped its website. There are hours of reading there. The news feeds are good too. We are of course listed in the Archaeology online section. We have copies of the journal "British Archaeology" for loan from time to time. Did you know that you can read back issues on line? The October 2008 issue has a photo of young local archaeologists in the sixties. Can you see yourself?

Museum Roundup

Cheltenham Museum Events

Corinium Museum Events

Gloucester Museum Events

Stroud Museum in the Park Events

Swindon Museum Events

Steam Museum

Information on all museums in the County.

Want to get serious about archaeology?

TORC will tell you all about courses at all levels

Page last updated 25 August, 2010