CAHS Snapshots: Shopping changes in Cirencester’s Cricklade Street

With contributions from Cirencester Archaeological & Historical Society, Cirencester Civic Society, members & friends

PICTURED ABOVE: Cricklade St in the 1930s

Two of Cirencester’s well-known local historians, both sadly no longer with us, maintained a particular interest in Cricklade Street as the heart of shopping activity in the town from Victorian times onwards, flowing around the corner from the Market Place. In a lecture to our Ciren. Archaeological & Historical Society over forty years ago, Jean Welsford explained that she did so because nobody else seemed to be much interested!

And some twenty years later, Philip Griffiths made a point of photographing individual shop fronts, especially when closure or wholesale alterations loomed up. Their shared legacy is now a valuable record of this busy street.

In much the same way, most producers of postcards of Cirencester scenes were at best only incidentally interested in shopping activity, and so a very welcome exception, which provides our main image here, shows how much has changed over time. And it so happens that this upper part of the street is currently a hive of alterations and fresh retail energy bringing new names to the shop facades.

National postcard and guide book publishers Ed J Burrow & Co Ltd. was a company based in Cheltenham and famous for its Burrow and Borough town guides. It produced this view which dates from the 1930s. The card was posted from the town on 06 August 1942, by which time the world was at war.

Looking up the street on the right-hand side, the distinctive purpose-built facade of F.W. Woolworth & Co Ltd is easily distinguishable and just set back. Its design and layout was standard and it was pretty much an anchor store wherever it popped up on British high streets. This one at 9 Cricklade Street opened in 1930 and was store no 394 in its national chain. 

Next door at 11 Cricklade Street, the Boots store, with its enormous hanging sign, was another focal point, Boots also having another shop in the Market Place. In the 1930s neighbouring stores just below included S Hilton & Sons ‘boot warehouse’ and Lipton Ltd Grocers in properties all since rebuilt over time, especially where ground floor facades are inevitably modernised and usually enlarged. New arrivals there just recently have included Joe Browns clothing store, previously occupied by Superdrug.

On the Woolworths site, Philip Griffiths’ colour photos show both its original size before later expansion (where Boots once stood) and caught just in time on 28 December 2008 as the store was closing down. Its loss is still regretted by Ciren folk with long memories. They weren’t alone – Woolworths closed all 807 of its UK shops in Dec 2008 and January 2009.

On this site too there is much current change.  Poundland has been replaced by Mountain Warehouse which has moved down one. Into the ‘original’ store work continues for the arrival of Greggs to offer its own distinctive range of food products. Once again, the wheel turns.

The left-hand side of the street looking up has also seen dramatic change since this postcard was published. The group above the entrance into Cirencester Brewery (man and bicycle!) also belonged to the Brewery and were part of its demolition in the later 1930s. The shop units which replaced them were quickly commandeered for the war effort as a shadow factory producing aircraft parts.

Anyone researching Ciren’s streets and buildings needs to be aware of the substantial town-wide property renumbering undertaken in 1936-7. Before then, Cricklade Street was numbered successively down the west side from the Market Place, and then back up the east side. At the change it became odds and evens with the odd numbers on the east side. As an example, Sea Salt Cornwall occupies no 7 today and was previously no 171.

So, with all these changes Cricklade Street continues to offer a wide range of interest from top to bottom, and bottom to top!

Linda & David Viner

To keep up to date with what´s going on in town, feel free to join our Facebook group by clicking here. To advertise with the magazine check out the Rates & Media Pack – Ciren Scene!