Corinium Dobunnorum

Corinium Dobunnorum was the Romano-British settlement at Cirencester in Gloucestershire. In the 2nd century its walls enclosed the second-largest area of any city in Roman Britain. It served as the tribal capital of the Dobunni and is thought to have been the capital of the province of Britannia Prima in the late Roman period. The name first appears around 150 CE in Ptolemy’s Geography, though surviving manuscripts date from the 13th century. Three major Roman roads—the Fosse Way, Akeman Street and Ermin Way—met at Corinium. The town grew from a fort built soon after the Roman conquest into a planned city with a street grid, forum and basilica larger than any in Britain except London. Public buildings included two market places, shops and private houses, and the basilica featured Italian marble and Purbeck marble mouldings. An amphitheatre stood to the south-east, built on the site of an old quarry aligned with the street grid. Evidence of craft industries appears in the names of a stone-carver, Sulinus son of Brucetus, and two mosaic schools. Today the grass-covered bowl of the amphitheatre, known as the Bull Ring, remains visible. A short stretch of the old town wall can be seen in Abbey Park. The Corinium Museum displays many finds from the site, including mosaic floors, carved stone slabs and everyday objects. The museum’s collection shows how the town supported bakers, glass makers, blacksmiths and goldsmiths. The amphitheatre later became a storage space and, in the 5th and 6th centuries, a timber building linked to early pottery.