Hidden among the chalky slopes and wind-worn grasslands of the Cotswolds lies Hazleton North Long Barrow — an early Neolithic monument that has transformed our understanding of Britain’s prehistoric communities. Excavated in the 1980s, this limestone-built tomb revealed the remains of around thirty individuals laid to rest over time in two opposing chambers. But this […]
This small piece of broken Roman Samian Ware or Terra Sigillata pot is not the most beautiful and certainly not the most complete in the Corinium’s collection, but I love it because it is an incredibly powerful tool. The piece of broken pot from the workshop This potsherd is in our Everyday Life of the […]
Roman inscriptions are relatively rare to come by in Britain, but they do lurk in various corners. Anyone who has studied Latin at school will know just how difficult and complicated a language it is to learn to read, let alone write. Latin has a lot of different rules about tenses and cases and gerunds […]
Today marks the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe at the end of the Second World War. The Cotswold District made a significant contribution during the war. There were 14 airfields within 12 miles of Cirencester with air bases such as Down Ampney taking part in military campaigns such as Operation Market Garden and D-Day, […]
St George’s Day on April 23 also marks the birth and death day of William Shakespeare. The Bard is arguably England’s greatest playwright. Although none of his plays were set in Cirencester, the town does get a mention in Richard II, at the start of Act 5, Scene 6. Henry IV says to the Duke […]
When you think of Romano-British architecture, you might picture towering columns, grand amphitheatres, or intricate mosaic floors—like our own stunning Orpheus Mosaic, discovered at Barton Farm, just outside of Cirencester 200 years ago. But did you know that Roman builders had more in common with modern LEGO® enthusiasts than you might expect?
Women, especially from more distant historical periods, tend to be marginalised by the historical record. While the stories of the highest-ranking Roman women survive, those of the more ordinary citizens tend to disappear. As such, though the lurid figures of Livia and Agrippina may loom large in the accounts of Suetonius and Tacitus, there tends […]
Between 2008-2013 Oxford Archaeology undertook a large excavation at the site of Kingshill (Kingshill South) just to the east of Cirencester. It lies outside of the line of the town walls of Roman Corinium and the archaeologists found a Roman building that showed evidence of people living there from as early as 70AD right up […]
This Anglo-Saxon pendant, of gold set with garnets, is perhaps the finest example of Anglo-Saxon metalworking in the museum’s collection. It possesses that unique capacity of Anglo-Saxon metalwork to amaze; one cannot help but be struck by the artistic beauty of such an item, and the incredible skill of its maker. When looking at this […]
The Corinium Museum contains artefacts and finds from prehistory up until the 19th century and we treasure all kinds of amazing objects, from Palaeolithic mammoth tusks to Victorian stoneware bottles. Treasure in a legal sense is much more defined. Under the Treasure Act 1996 it is gold and silver objects, and groups of coins that […]
