With contributions from Cirencester Archaeological & Historical Society, members & friends
The two illustrations which accompany this article have much in common, although they are some 120 years apart in date. One shows a scene in 1849, the other in 1971. Each records the discovery of mosaic floors from substantial buildings of the Romano-British period in the town’s early history, when as Corinium it was a regional capital and an important administrative centre in the Roman Britain of its day.
Local people well appreciate that much of this archaeological heritage still remains buried below ground, underneath the modern town. Very occasionally discoveries make the headlines, and have been recorded by archaeologists and historians from the later 18th century onwards. Armed with all this information, a decent understanding of the Roman town’s layout has now been achieved, but it is always subject to re-interpretation as new finds are made.
The 1849 image comes from the Illustrated London News, a major journal of its day, and offers one of the most striking representations of the relationship between archaeology and town life. Here we are in the middle of Dyer Street, looking towards the Market Place from a point just beyond where Argos and Marks & Spencer face each other today.
Other than the parish church of course, all the buildings in this street scene have since been demolished, in one of the town’s more comprehensive re-developments in the 1960s, which make this doubly valuable as an image of record. The double-gabled Ship Inn was clearly an historic building, its panelled outer door dated to 1648. It’s long gone but was next door to where the Salvation Army shop stands today.
The focus of attention is the discovery and lifting of one of the two mosaics found and then recovered during the laying of a sewer along the street. The News reported on it all in some detail. Damage had been caused during their chance discovery but the removal effort, supported by the Town Commissioners, was remarkable for its day not least because it led to the establishment of a purpose-built museum in Tetbury Road to house these mosaics. This was at the expense of Earl Bathurst and opened in 1856; the building is still there although now in other use.
These mosaics, the Hunting Dogs and the Four Seasons, date from the 2nd century AD, and belonged to a substantial town house. They have been on show to visitors ever since and are now showpieces in the Corinium Museum in Park Street.
It was in the 1960s and 1970s that a more systematic approach to the town’s archaeology was put into place via a dedicated Cirencester Excavation Committee. A large number of archaeological excavations took place, some picking up on redevelopment opportunities, others to set up a research framework of greater understanding of Roman Corinium.
Which leads us to the 1971 image of a group of interested locals being shown the soon-to-be-famous Hare mosaic being excavated in Beeches Road. The excavation programme there lasted for several years, attracting many visitors, and for those who participated has remained a strong memory of sharing in some major discoveries.
These excavations introduced University of Leicester students to practical archaeology and here the director Dr Alan McWhirr is showing members of our Cirencester Archaeological & Historical Society around the site. The Society supported the excavation projects from early days in the 1950s and provided stewards to show visitors around the sites. There are some familiar faces to spot here even now, including my own, so this photograph is a period piece in so many ways!
Alan McWhirr is standing by the Hare mosaic which dates from the 3rd or 4th century AD; he is explaining how it was largely protected by a later hypocaust heating system installed on top as part of a building upgrade. This mosaic and most of all its hare symbol quickly became the logo of the ‘new’ Corinium Museum when its first major post-war refurbishment began at much the same time. The mosaic became the key feature in the new galleries opened in 1974.
In the half-century since then, the Museum has changed and improved out of all recognition and offers an outstanding and nationally-important presentation of local archaeology and especially of the history of Corinium. More than 60 mosaics have been discovered in Cirencester over the years, dating from the 2nd to 4th century, and a creditable number of these are preserved in the museum, with many on show in the galleries.
So this is the place to understand and enjoy these fine mosaics, learn how they were made with the use of local materials, and the elaborate town houses they adorned. Their detailed designs, drawn of course from the wealth of the ancient world, are also explained. An attractive booklet in the museum’s series of guides is devoted to the museum’s mosaic collection and is an informative read as well as a quality souvenir.
David Viner
See Corinium Museum Mosaics, a 32pp booklet available from museum shop at £4.95.
Support Cirencester’s principal heritage societies and their event programmes: Archaeological & Historical Society (www.cirenhistory.org.uk) and Civic Society (www.ccsoc.org.uk), which runs a programme of Town Walks in the season plus pre-booked for small groups. See the Society’s website or phone William Cooper on 01285 88 55 90.
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