About Us

Cirencester Civic Society has a simple aim, to promote, protect and shape our wonderful town and in 2026 we will be especially proud to celebrate our 60^th anniversary of fulfilling these aims.

Everything we do, helps us meet our purpose and we are very grateful for the support of our members who show their pride and interest in preserving the heritage of our wonderful market town, whilst continuing to accommodate sympathetic growth. 

Cirencester Civic Society is a registered charity and is governed by trustees. All are volunteers and all work hard to ensure we continue to promote, protect and shape the town. We do this in a number of ways which you can read about below.

The Society promotes the town by:

• leading guided walks. These can be pre-booked throughout the year or, in the summer season, participants can just turn-up-and-go.
• producing leaflets showing self-guided walking tours. These are available to purchase from Corinium Museum or the Information Office at Bingham House.
• supporting initiatives and events such as Cirencester History Festival of which the Civic Society is proud to be a Founding Patron.
• Contributing articles to publications such as CirenScene
• arranging events such as visits behind the scenes of local landmarks or working in collaboration with other organisations such as CAHS and the Arts Society Corinium
• organising regular talks to raise awareness about the preservation, development and improvement of local features. These are open to members and non-members of the Society. Visitors are welcome – a donation of £3.00 per person is invited.

The Society helps protect the character of the town by:

• scrutinising and commenting on planning applications which may affect the historic or social character of the town
• showcasing historic buildings or the Cirencester connection with local people such as Edward Jenner (who discovered the smallpox vaccine in 1796) and Grace Hadow (one of the first suffragists) by placing blue plaques on buildings in the town. A Plaque Trail is shown on our plaques page.
• Commenting on Planning Policies and Strategies such as the Neighbourhood Plan and the Green Spaces Strategy in partnership with representatives from the Town and District Councils.

The Society helps shape the town by:

• celebrating thoughtful building design with our Cirencester Civic Design Awards, given to developments or refurbishments meeting good practice standards.
• awarding Civic Pride Grants to neighbourhood groups wanting to enhance their local community area

Governance

Cirencester Civic Society was launched in 1966. It became a registered charity in 1967 with a constitution which reflected the Society’s aims. This document is regularly reviewed to ensure the charity is governed effectively; the current constitution can be found via this link.

Achieving Our Aims

An executive committee of elected trustees and invited advisors meet monthly to discuss and action matters which may have an impact either on the charity or the town. Each trustee takes the lead for one specific aspect of the Society’s work but, collectively, oversee the charity’s governance. Roles are listed below with names and contact details as appropriate.