Cirencester

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Cirencester
Market town
Cirencester Location within Gloucestershire
Population	20,229 (2021 Census)[1]
OS grid reference	SP022021
District	Cotswold
Shire county	Gloucestershire
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CIRENCESTER
Postcode district	GL7
Dialling code	01285
Police	Gloucestershire
Fire	Gloucestershire
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	South Cotswolds
Website	Town Council
List of places UK England Gloucestershire 51°43′08″N 1°58′05″W / 51.719°N 1.968°W / 51.719; -1.968

Cirencester (/ˈsaɪrənsɛstər/ ^ⓘ SY-rən-sest-ər, occasionally /ˈsɪstər/ ^ⓘ SIST-ər; see below for more variations)^[2] is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames. It is the eighth largest settlement in Gloucestershire and the largest town within the Cotswolds. It is the home of the Royal Agricultural University, the oldest agricultural college in the English-speaking world, founded in 1840. The town had a population of 20,229 in 2021.^[1] The town is 18 miles (29 km) northwest of Swindon, 18 miles (29 km) southeast of Gloucester, 37 miles (60 km) west of Oxford and 39 miles (63 km) northeast of Bristol.

The Roman name for the town was Corinium, which is thought to have been associated with the ancient British tribe of the Dobunni, having the same root word as the River Churn.^[3] The earliest known reference to the town was by Ptolemy in AD 150. The town's Corinium Museum has an extensive Roman collection.

Cirencester is twinned with the town of Itzehoe, in the Steinburg region of Germany.^[4]