Walking Roman Cirencester

Twenty Years Cataloguing Corinium, Now Walking It

Corinium was the second-largest town in Roman Britain after London, though most of it now sits under Cirencester's shopfronts and pavements with nothing to mark it. Dr Alison Grierson-Brookes spent two decades as Head of Collections at Corinium Museum, working through what came out of the ground here. She has since started leading walks with Cotswold Heritage Walks that put those finds back where they belong, tracing the Roman town that isn't visible anymore.

The two-hour walk covers the grassed banks of the amphitheatre, once one of the largest in Roman Britain, sections of the old town wall, and the street lines the Romans laid out beneath the modern ones. Groups are kept to twelve, small enough for real questions along the way. Back at the museum, refreshments come first, then a guided run through the Roman galleries, matching what's on display to the ground just covered.

Twenty years spent cataloguing the finds means she can stop at a gap between two shopfronts and tell you what stood there.

Saturday 12 September 2026 · Corinium Museum, Park Street, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 2BX · Starts 10:15am