The society has been in existence for over fifty years. In the early days it sponsored "digs" in the Cotswold area. As Archaeology is now well catered for in the planning system, we restrict projects to things where we rarely get our hands dirty. Members are encouraged to take part in projects supported by the Society. The Society’s Millennium Project was to outline in slabs and install a plaque in the Abbey grounds, giving information on the history of the great Augustinian Abbey of St. Mary, which dominated the landscape and lives of the people of Cirencester for over 400 years. This was completed with help from the Town Council who own the grounds, and thus was opened by the Mayor one rainy evening during 2000. Unfortunately, the plaque suffered from both graffiti and weather damage, and was removed some years later. Its successor is a leaflet that visitors can purchase for a small sum from the Museum’s Information Centre, that easily fits the pocket as you walk around the Abbey Grounds. The leaflet tells more about the other history of the Grounds, notably the Roman Walls and the Norman Arch. Past Projects  (not a comprehensive list - if you would like us to mention an early project that you had a hand in, please contact the webmaster) Cirencester Park Leaflet This was produced primarily for visitors to the Caravan Club site in the Park grounds, and gave guided walks through the park. It is currently out of print. Local Paper Catalogue Long before the invention of computers, members catalogued back copies of the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard onto card indexes in the Bingham Library (The librarian of the time was Librarian to the Society). It is not known (to your webmaster) if this catalogue or a modern version still exists. The Regal Just before the last cinema in town closed, Linda Walls, then a member of the committee, took with permission, large numbers of photographs of the exterior and interior of the Regal, which stood in Lewis Lane. The Society holds a disk of these photographs. Linda sadly died in 2006, not long after this exercise. History was one of her several enthusiasms. The  photo record is our memorial to her. Some of the pictures are in this photogallery. The Queen’s 50th Jubilee Celebrations in Cirencester The Society contribution was a set of 50 photographs of items or places connected with Jubilees since Queen Victoria’s day. These were presented to the local history section of the BIngham Library at the December 2002 meeting, which was held in the Library. They are still available to view. We have not chosen a specific project for the upcoming diamond Jubilee, though our Vice Chairman, Aileen Anderson is on the Town’s celebration committee. Roman Garden For about 20 years before the Corinium Museum was revamped, members tended the Roman Garden. Endangered Buildings The Society was concerned about the state of St Johns Hospital and encouraged  and helped the owners to obtain a maintenance grant. Work is now complete, and we intend to provide a grant in the form of interpretation, once we have checked what may already be provided by others. Ongoing/Future Projects Street Naming We have been providing suitable street names for developers to use for some years, with mixed success. We had nothing to do with “Corinium Via!”, though we understand the developers have accepted some relevant field names for the new estate.  We have provided both the Town Council and the naming authority, Cotswold District Council with a large number of names of early businessmen in the town compiled from a composite photograph of members of the Chamber of Trade. You can see a similar photograph on the wall in Walter Bull & Son. We also recommend relevant names of fields or similar where possible. Military Colours in Cirencester Parish Church The colours of the 4th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment and the Royal North Gloucestershire Militia were given into the care of the church on the disbandment of these regiments and hung for many years. They were removed from display some yerars before the renovation of the church. We have campaigned for them to be rehung and commissioned a report on them from NADFAS and others. We now hear that a faculty has been granted for the rehanging, and look forward to seeing them again soon. Why do they look so sad? It is military tradition that laid up colours are not restored, but allowed to decay gracefully with old age. Fred Petrie wrote about the regiments in an early Newsletter Turnpikes An ongoing project for many years has been studies of the various turnpikes in the area. There were annual reports of progress in the Newsletters. There is now an intention to bring all this work together for formal publication ( for which a Ward Grant was obtained from the CDC some years ago). The first part should be out within twelve months. If you have editing skills and time, our Editor would be pleased to hear from you. The Kibble photograph collection A large number of colour slides of Cirencester in the 1970s taken by a Mr Kibble are available. We are researching what there is, how they may be preserved/made available to others. We are stimulated to consider how current photographic records might be made to record the changing scene, particularly of the Cirencester conservation area. More about this at a future Society meeting. Page last updated 1 December 2011