Cirencester Shopping
Cirencester has a diverse range of shops that will cater for many people's needs. The town centre has the usual chain stores including Woolworths, WH Smith, Fat Face, Jessops, Next (Women and children), The Orange Shop, Argos, Boots and The Sony Centre.
But it is the smaller, and often independently owned, stores that attract many people to shop in Cirencester. There are many high quality clothing stores for women, the excellent children's toy store Crocodile, Gardiners (Cotswold's biggest homecentre), Keith's coffee shop, Toomers (pet store) and Hi Ho Silver (jewellery) and many more to choose from.
A Julian Graves store has opened in Cricklade Street. Julian Graves is the UK's largest independent specialist snacks and ingredients retailer, with a network of nearly 300 outlets nationwide. The Cirencester store can be found on the corner of the Bishops Wall shopping centre entrance in Cricklade Street. The premises was previously occupied by a shoe shop, Priceless Shoes.
The town's only major specialist electrical retailer, Currys, closed last year and the premises is to re-open as Costa Coffee. The Electrical Discount Store in Dyer Street which closed some time ago has re-opened. The store sells white goods, vacuum cleaners etc. and, perhaps, re-opened due to the closure of Currys?
The are a number of town centre car parks that you can use, including a small number of space in The Market Place itself.
The Waterloo Car Park will be the first car park that you will probably encouter. It's position, just off London Road, is ideal as it is on the edge of the town centre but also close to The Abbey Grounds where you could take a relaxing walk after a busy shopping trip.
Current parking charges at the Waterloo Car Park are:
Up to 1 hour - £1.00
Up to 2 hours - £1.60
Up to 3 hours - £2.00
Up to 10 hours - £5.00
Charges apply 8am to 6pm Monday to Saturday (including public holidays)
Leave the Waterloo Car Park (after paying and displaying of course) and head back towards Dyer Street. As you reach the junction of The Waterloo, London Road, Victoria Road and Dyer Street you will be able to see two of the finest Bed and Breakfast establishments Cirencester has to offer. The Old Brewhouse and The Ivy House. The Old Brewhouse on London Road is a delightful 17th Century town house bed and breakfast full of charm and character, sympathetically restored and refurbished offering high quality accommodation. The Ivy House is an imposing Victorian residence built in 1870, occupying a prominent position within a three-minute walk from the town centre. There are more B&Bs a little further down Victoria Road such as the excellent 'The Leauses' run by Mason and Lizzy.
Anyway, let's go shopping!
As you head up Dyer Street towards the town centre one of the first shops you will encounter, after first passing the office of The Wilts & Glos Standard, is Gardiner Homecentre at 68/72 Dyer Street. Gardiners claims the title of the Cotswold's biggest homecentre and occupies a large, two storey property with departments including bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, lighting, gardening and general DIY. There are parking spaces at the rear of the store and access to these spaces is via Lewis Lane.
Opposite Gadiners is Electrical Discount Store, an electrical store selling the usual range of white goods.
Continue up Dyer Street and you will find the Marks & Spencer 'Simply Food' store. The store opened in 2006 after taking over the premises vacated by the Iceland frozen food shop. Opposite Marks & Spencer you will see Argos, the catalogue shop. There is an alleyway to the right of the Argos store which leads to a small car park which can be used by Argos customer whilst using the store. There is also a newsagents, DVD rental store and Simone's gym on that side of the road.
Next to Marks and Spencer is a small courtyard type area where you can sit and enjoy a coffee and watch the world go by, The courtyard is edged with a small number of shops and businesses including a hair salon, cafe and gallery.
As you head towards the Market Place you will pass Nationwide and then Toomers, the pet store, a greeting card shop (Special Occassions) and the new offices of Cirencester estate agency, Cain & Fuller which recently relocated from further down Dyer Street.
You are now at the junction of Dyer Street, Market Place and North Way, but before we continue into The Market Place look opposite Cain & Fuller where you will see an archway to The Woolmarket, an small area of shops and businesses including Crocodile (which has recently been put up for sale by the owners after running the famous toy shop for 21 years), Mr Charles Menswear and Carriages At Three. In The Woolmarket you will find a sculpture by Jill Tweed called "The Ram". The sculpture was unveiled in 1997 by local author Joanna Trollope.
By the time you have reached the junction of Dyer Street, North Way and The Market Place the impressive site of St John Baptist Church will be in view. The Church dominates the top end of The Market Place and is one of the most impressive "wool church" in the area, if not the country.
The church is currently undergoing a major programme of restoration which could mean that you will see scaffolding if you visit in the near future.
Head up toward the Church passing Walter Bull & Sons the jewellers, Lock Stock & Barrel, Barclays Bank, The Corn Hall and Cirencester Visitor Information Centre along the way. You will also find The Fleece Hotel, Cirencester's only town centre 3 star hotel, in The Market Place.
At the top end of The Market Place, outside the HSBC bank, you will find yourself at the junction of Cricklade Street, Castle Street and West Market Place.
Let's explore Cricklade Street first.
In Cricklade Street you will find a mix of shops and businesses including Woolworths, West Cornwall Pasty Co., Whittards of Chelsea, New Look, Clinton Cards, Burton menswear, Dorothy Perkins and Millets to name but a few. The Bishops Walk shopping centre also leads off Cricklade Street.
Bishops Walk is a small covered shopping mall home to a number of shops and businesses including two mobile phone shops (Carphone Warehouse being one of them), a kitchen and homeware shop and a florist.
The first floor of Bishops Walk is occupied by Cirencester's one and only nightclub, The Rock.
Continue down Cricklade Street past Boots, Dorothy Perkins and Burton towards where Cricklade Street has a junction with Ashcroft Road and you will find Witton Recruitment. If you do an about turn and walk back up Cricklade Street (on the left hand side of the road) towards The Market Place you will find Travial, another employment agency dealing with jobs in Cirencester. Continue walking along Cricklade Street past Halfords, the entrance to Bishops Walk and the Waterstones book shop (which recently changed its name from Ottakar's after the July 2006 takeover by the HMV Group) until you reach The Market Place.
We will now turn left out of Cricklade Street and take a trip down Castle Street.
We will walk down Castle Street on the left hand side towards Tetbury Road and then turn through 180 degrees to return down Castle Street on the right hand side back to The Market Place.
As we travel down Castle Street we pass R Scott, a Gentlemans' Outfitters that has been serving Cirencester since 1905. Continue past Concord Foto (a digital camera shop) and you will pass the Clarks shoe shop and the Black Horse public house on your way to WH Smith, a common sight n many high streets across England, but not many will occupy such a picturesque building.
Continue along Castle Street and you will discover that the buildings housing shops will change to buildings housing estate agents and restaurants. The first restaurant we will pass is Tatyans, a Chinese Restaurant run by local businessman Tatyan Cheung. As we proceed towards Tetbury Road we will pass a curry house and an Italian serving pasta and pizza. The Curryander curry house which sttod on the corner of an alleyway that leads down to Tesco's town centre store and a large car park known as Brewery car park has closed and re-opened as a new restaurant.
Walk a little further down Castle Street and we will reach a pub called Somewhere Else, the point where we turn around and walk back towards The Market Place.
Walking back down to the Market Place we will pass a number of shops, the Mad Hatter's Wine Bar and McKenzies pub/wine bar, the Post Office, an opticians, bakery and finally a travel agents on the corner of Castle Street and the Market Place.
We will now turn left into West Market Place and then to Black Jack Street.
West Market Place and Black Jack Street is possibly the most interesting shopping area in Cirencester. Full of small shops, tempting courtyard areas and the smell of freshly roasting coffee beans from Keith's.
More information on this area of Cirencester is coming soon.
But it is the smaller, and often independently owned, stores that attract many people to shop in Cirencester. There are many high quality clothing stores for women, the excellent children's toy store Crocodile, Gardiners (Cotswold's biggest homecentre), Keith's coffee shop, Toomers (pet store) and Hi Ho Silver (jewellery) and many more to choose from.A Julian Graves store has opened in Cricklade Street. Julian Graves is the UK's largest independent specialist snacks and ingredients retailer, with a network of nearly 300 outlets nationwide. The Cirencester store can be found on the corner of the Bishops Wall shopping centre entrance in Cricklade Street. The premises was previously occupied by a shoe shop, Priceless Shoes.
The town's only major specialist electrical retailer, Currys, closed last year and the premises is to re-open as Costa Coffee. The Electrical Discount Store in Dyer Street which closed some time ago has re-opened. The store sells white goods, vacuum cleaners etc. and, perhaps, re-opened due to the closure of Currys?
The are a number of town centre car parks that you can use, including a small number of space in The Market Place itself.
A walk around the shops in Cirencester
The Waterloo Car Park will be the first car park that you will probably encouter. It's position, just off London Road, is ideal as it is on the edge of the town centre but also close to The Abbey Grounds where you could take a relaxing walk after a busy shopping trip.
Current parking charges at the Waterloo Car Park are:
Up to 1 hour - £1.00
Up to 2 hours - £1.60
Up to 3 hours - £2.00
Up to 10 hours - £5.00
Charges apply 8am to 6pm Monday to Saturday (including public holidays)
Leave the Waterloo Car Park (after paying and displaying of course) and head back towards Dyer Street. As you reach the junction of The Waterloo, London Road, Victoria Road and Dyer Street you will be able to see two of the finest Bed and Breakfast establishments Cirencester has to offer. The Old Brewhouse and The Ivy House. The Old Brewhouse on London Road is a delightful 17th Century town house bed and breakfast full of charm and character, sympathetically restored and refurbished offering high quality accommodation. The Ivy House is an imposing Victorian residence built in 1870, occupying a prominent position within a three-minute walk from the town centre. There are more B&Bs a little further down Victoria Road such as the excellent 'The Leauses' run by Mason and Lizzy.
Anyway, let's go shopping!
Dyer Street
As you head up Dyer Street towards the town centre one of the first shops you will encounter, after first passing the office of The Wilts & Glos Standard, is Gardiner Homecentre at 68/72 Dyer Street. Gardiners claims the title of the Cotswold's biggest homecentre and occupies a large, two storey property with departments including bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, lighting, gardening and general DIY. There are parking spaces at the rear of the store and access to these spaces is via Lewis Lane.
Opposite Gadiners is Electrical Discount Store, an electrical store selling the usual range of white goods.
Continue up Dyer Street and you will find the Marks & Spencer 'Simply Food' store. The store opened in 2006 after taking over the premises vacated by the Iceland frozen food shop. Opposite Marks & Spencer you will see Argos, the catalogue shop. There is an alleyway to the right of the Argos store which leads to a small car park which can be used by Argos customer whilst using the store. There is also a newsagents, DVD rental store and Simone's gym on that side of the road.
Next to Marks and Spencer is a small courtyard type area where you can sit and enjoy a coffee and watch the world go by, The courtyard is edged with a small number of shops and businesses including a hair salon, cafe and gallery.
As you head towards the Market Place you will pass Nationwide and then Toomers, the pet store, a greeting card shop (Special Occassions) and the new offices of Cirencester estate agency, Cain & Fuller which recently relocated from further down Dyer Street.
You are now at the junction of Dyer Street, Market Place and North Way, but before we continue into The Market Place look opposite Cain & Fuller where you will see an archway to The Woolmarket, an small area of shops and businesses including Crocodile (which has recently been put up for sale by the owners after running the famous toy shop for 21 years), Mr Charles Menswear and Carriages At Three. In The Woolmarket you will find a sculpture by Jill Tweed called "The Ram". The sculpture was unveiled in 1997 by local author Joanna Trollope.By the time you have reached the junction of Dyer Street, North Way and The Market Place the impressive site of St John Baptist Church will be in view. The Church dominates the top end of The Market Place and is one of the most impressive "wool church" in the area, if not the country.
The church is currently undergoing a major programme of restoration which could mean that you will see scaffolding if you visit in the near future.
The Market Place
Head up toward the Church passing Walter Bull & Sons the jewellers, Lock Stock & Barrel, Barclays Bank, The Corn Hall and Cirencester Visitor Information Centre along the way. You will also find The Fleece Hotel, Cirencester's only town centre 3 star hotel, in The Market Place.
At the top end of The Market Place, outside the HSBC bank, you will find yourself at the junction of Cricklade Street, Castle Street and West Market Place.
Let's explore Cricklade Street first.
Cricklade Street
In Cricklade Street you will find a mix of shops and businesses including Woolworths, West Cornwall Pasty Co., Whittards of Chelsea, New Look, Clinton Cards, Burton menswear, Dorothy Perkins and Millets to name but a few. The Bishops Walk shopping centre also leads off Cricklade Street.Bishops Walk is a small covered shopping mall home to a number of shops and businesses including two mobile phone shops (Carphone Warehouse being one of them), a kitchen and homeware shop and a florist.
The first floor of Bishops Walk is occupied by Cirencester's one and only nightclub, The Rock.
Continue down Cricklade Street past Boots, Dorothy Perkins and Burton towards where Cricklade Street has a junction with Ashcroft Road and you will find Witton Recruitment. If you do an about turn and walk back up Cricklade Street (on the left hand side of the road) towards The Market Place you will find Travial, another employment agency dealing with jobs in Cirencester. Continue walking along Cricklade Street past Halfords, the entrance to Bishops Walk and the Waterstones book shop (which recently changed its name from Ottakar's after the July 2006 takeover by the HMV Group) until you reach The Market Place.
We will now turn left out of Cricklade Street and take a trip down Castle Street.
Castle Street
We will walk down Castle Street on the left hand side towards Tetbury Road and then turn through 180 degrees to return down Castle Street on the right hand side back to The Market Place.
As we travel down Castle Street we pass R Scott, a Gentlemans' Outfitters that has been serving Cirencester since 1905. Continue past Concord Foto (a digital camera shop) and you will pass the Clarks shoe shop and the Black Horse public house on your way to WH Smith, a common sight n many high streets across England, but not many will occupy such a picturesque building.
Continue along Castle Street and you will discover that the buildings housing shops will change to buildings housing estate agents and restaurants. The first restaurant we will pass is Tatyans, a Chinese Restaurant run by local businessman Tatyan Cheung. As we proceed towards Tetbury Road we will pass a curry house and an Italian serving pasta and pizza. The Curryander curry house which sttod on the corner of an alleyway that leads down to Tesco's town centre store and a large car park known as Brewery car park has closed and re-opened as a new restaurant.
Walk a little further down Castle Street and we will reach a pub called Somewhere Else, the point where we turn around and walk back towards The Market Place.
Walking back down to the Market Place we will pass a number of shops, the Mad Hatter's Wine Bar and McKenzies pub/wine bar, the Post Office, an opticians, bakery and finally a travel agents on the corner of Castle Street and the Market Place.
We will now turn left into West Market Place and then to Black Jack Street.
West Market Place and Black Jack Street
West Market Place and Black Jack Street is possibly the most interesting shopping area in Cirencester. Full of small shops, tempting courtyard areas and the smell of freshly roasting coffee beans from Keith's.
More information on this area of Cirencester is coming soon.