Cirencester Pub Town Walk

The Pub That Hid a King

Corinium Museum's guided walk uses Cirencester's older pubs and inns as a way into the town's history, tracing buildings that are still pulling pints alongside ones long since turned into shops or gone altogether.

The route works out from the museum through the old streets and Market Place, taking in stalwarts like the King's Head, a coaching inn first recorded by name under Edward VI in the late 1540s, and the Fleece, where the future Charles II hid out from Cromwell's New Model Army in September 1651, posing as a servant with a £1000 price on his head. Along the way the guide connects each pub to what was happening nationally at the time, wool wealth, civil war, social change, all seen from behind the bar. It runs about an hour and a quarter, on level pavement with a short stretch through town traffic, so comfortable shoes and a raincoat are worth bringing.

Once you know which pub sheltered a fugitive king, the market place never looks quite the same again.

Tuesday 29 September 2026 · Corinium Museum, Park Street, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 2BX · Starts 11:00am