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
October 19th @ 7.30 pm
Cirencester Baptist Church, Chesterton Lane Cirencester
Gloucestershire Paths : speaker is Alan Pilbeam
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.
June/July – Members only summer walks – see our EVENTS page for further details.
£15 a year for an individual invites you to several events a year only open to our members.
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
Below is a short film on St John’s Chantry and almshouses that may be of interest:
As part of the National Year of Reading, Meg has recommended; The Warden, the first of Anthony Trollope’s Chronicles of Barsetshire, a series of six novels published between 1855 and 1867. The Warden focuses on Mr Harding, Warden of Hiram’s Hospital, an almshouse in Barchester (based on Salisbury).
Previous Talks have included:
Cirencester in the 1960s: Everyday lives and changes to the town during the swinging 60s
The Victoria Country History: Tracing Roman to Medieval Cirencester
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