Talks
From 2026 our talks move to the Baptist Church on Chesterton Lane, Cirencester. Parking is available at the church and nearby.
The doors open at 7pm for the 7.30 pm talk.
FREE to members, visitors are always welcome – a donation of £3.00 per person is invited on the door.
Our Next talk
February 16th @7.30pm
Cirencester Baptist Church, Chesterton Lane Cirencester
The Victoria Country History: Tracing Roman to Medieval Cirencester
speaker is Dr Simon Draper
Simon Draper is County Editor for the Gloucestershire Victoria County History (VCH), a long-running academic project which is conducting detailed historical research into Cirencester and surrounding parishes for a new book which VCH hopes to publish in 2027. This talk will focus on the period from the end of Roman rule in 410 to the Dissolution of Cirencester Abbey in 1539, examining how and why Roman Corinium came to be replaced by Medieval Cirencester.
**March 23rd: The People and Place: practicing architecture in the Cotswolds – speaker is architect Jonathan Rixon
Please note this is a change to the original date***
This talk will include our AGM which commences at 7pm with the talk following at 7.30pm.
Rixon Architects, led by Jonathan, are an award-winning Cotswold Architect Practice who believe every client and every building is unique. Their Cotswold experience is used to work with various clients to produce simple, stylish, original solutions that capture their aspirations. Jonathan will speak about the challenges of working in a region with specific conservation issues as well as producing innovative modern buildings.
April 20th: Tolkien and the Cotswolds: the shaping of Middle Earth – speaker is historian Andrew Meller
Andy’s interest and love for all things Tolkienian began when he first read the Lord of the Rings trilogy in the early 1980s. Whilst working at Waterstones in Gloucester, Andy discovered that Tolkien’s wife, Edith, was born just a stone’s throw away in Arthur Street and when he began to delve a bit deeper, realised just how much Gloucestershire and the surrounding area had played in Tolkien’s personal and literary life. The talk will examine the lives of both Ronald and Edith Tolkien from their early beginnings in South Africa and Gloucester respectively and will consider just how much the Cotswolds, shaped their own lives and those of the characters in JRR Tolkien’s writing
May 18th: – The Changing Face of Cirencester: Life in the 1960s – speaker is Robert Heaven custodian of the Wilts/Glos Standard photo archive
Part of our celebration of 60 years of the Cirencester Civic Society
Join us for a nostalgic journey back to Cirencester in the 1960s, as we celebrate the Civic Society’s 60th anniversary. This talk explores a decade of significant change and development in our town. From the impact of new industries and technologies to the evolution of local culture and community life, we’ll uncover the stories and memories that shaped Cirencester into the place we know today. Discover how Cirencester navigated the shifting social landscape of the ’60s, and share your own recollections of this transformative era.”
June/July – Members only summer walks – see our EVENTS page
September 21st: 60th Anniversary Celebration Event save the date TBA
October 19th: Gloucestershire Paths – speaker is Alan Philbeam
The talk explores the theme of the ‘Old Paths of Gloucestershire’, examining their history back to Iron Age times, the pattern of local paths as it had developed by Saxon times, and then the additions of pilgrim paths, drovers’ paths, paths to work, and finally those developed for leisure purposes.
November 16th: The Bathurst Estate:conservation and sustainability – speaker is Peter Clegg CEO Bathurst Estates.
The talk will focus primarily on the sustainable management and conservation of buildings, landscape, along with soil protection and sustainable tourism all of which are key areas of work on the Bathurst Estate. The talk will take us behind the scenes to explore issues that the public might be unaware of and may find interesting.
December 14th: Cirencester Almshouses – speaker is Meg Blumsom
Cirencester has a rich history of alms houses first instituted in Medieval times and supported over centuries by local philanthropy. Today they face the challenge of needing to provide for 21st century living but in buildings some of which are more than 200 years old. This talk will look at how the four alms house charities in Cirencester are addressing these tensions and meeting the needs of changing demographics
Previous Talks have included:
The lost pubs of Cirencester
100 years of the Old Museum
The Cirencester Green Spaces Strategy 2025-2041
Arts and Crafts Churches of Gloucestershire
The waterways of Cirencester
Soviet Maps of Gloucestershire! How and why?
Lidos and open air pools: Cirencester’s pool in context.
Historic Towns Trust: mapping our heritage
Cotswold Arts and Crafts and folk music
400 years of Stroudwater textiles
Unearthing the Mammoth graveyard
Atkyn’s Gloucestershire: the county 300 years ago
Garden Visiting: A very British tradition
Restoring the Cotswold Canals
The Town Centre Masterplan
The Steadings – a development for community, health and wellbeing
The early landscape around Corinium