Cirencester has a diverse range of shops that will cater for many people's needs. The town centre has the usual chain stores including TGJones (was WH Smith), White Stuff, Fat Face, Jones Bootmaker, EE, Vodafone, Argos and Boots.
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, Keith's coffee shop, Toomers (pet store), Jesse Smith's, Knead, Decimal and many more to choose from.
Coffee#1, Cafe Nero and the New Brewery Arts Cafe are just a few of the many coffee shops in the town.
The are a number of town centre car parks that you can use, including a small number of spaces 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. There is also a car park adjacent to the Abbey Grounds, Abbey Car Park.
Details of car parks in Cirencester and current parking charges can be found on the Cirencester car parks page.
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 one of the finest Bed and Breakfast establishments Cirencester has to offer. 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. There are more B&Bs a little further down Victoria Road including Cotswold Hare (previoulsy The Old Bungalow).
Anyway, let's go shopping!
As you head up Dyer Street towards the town centre 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 customers whilst using the store. There is also newsagents 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 New Wave selling fresh fish, a cafe and ZippyPix - the Independent Photo Lab.
As you head towards the Market Place you will pass Toomers, the pet store, and The Market Garden.
You are now at the junction of Dyer Street, Market Place and North Way, but before we continue into The Market Place look opposite The Market Garden where you will see an archway to The Woolmarket, an small area of shops and businesses.
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.
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.
Head up toward the Church passing Walter Bull & Sons the jewellers, ProCook (previously Steamer Trading Cookshop), Mode in Pelle, The While Company (the building used to be the home to Barclays Bank) and The Corn Hall along the way.
The Market Place was redeveloped in 2016 to change the flow of traffic and introduced a pedestrian area around the church where the Cirencester markets now reside.
The Corn Hall
The beautiful Corn Hall and Arcade, in the heart of Cirencester, are definitely worth a visit, they are a thriving and vibrant part of Cirencester's retail experience. The Arcade is the home to Sue Parkinson, Kings Head Brasserie, Corn Hall Deli and Witches Knickers.
The Corn Hall has regular weekly events running in the Corn Hall as follows:
Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday: HOME, FASHION and GARDEN BAZAAR
A great mix of fabulous jewellery, scarves, leather bags, cushions, footstools, interior design service, rugs, sheepskins and hides, childre's soft toys, cards, lavender bags, garden designers and plants, computers, olives and nuts, jams and chutneys, liquorice, prints and African art, beads, buttons and ribbons, Italian wrapping paper and food, life coach, painted furniture, each day/week varies, so always worth having a look around.
Every Friday: ANTIQUES and COLLECTABLES MARKET
Offering an eclectic mix of furniture, brass, art, jewellery, coins and collectables.
Every Saturday: CRAFT MARKET
Craftsmen selling a wide range of items they have made including beautiful wooden boxes, fire crates, bird boxes, mirrors, artwork, gift items and cards to name but a few.
As part of the redevelopment of The Corn Hall, the Visitor Information Centre was relocated to the Corinium Museum.
The Market Place
Back in the Market Place, you will also find The Fleece Hotel and The Kings Head Hotel.
At the top end of The Market Place, outside the vacated 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 Regatta, Boots, Seasalt, EE and Mountain Warehouse 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.
The first floor of Bishops Walk was, until August 2013, occupied by Cirencester's one and only nightclub, The Rock. It's now home to Revo and a gym.
Continue down Cricklade Street past Boots and Tesco, towards where Cricklade Street has a junction with Ashcroft Road and you will find Cook selling ready made meals and a little further down is the excellent D & J Sports. Just into Ashcroft Road at its junction with Cricklade Street you will find some retail outlets and businesses. If you do an about turn and walk back up Cricklade Street (on the left hand side of the road) towards The Market Place continue walking along Cricklade Street past the newly opened Tripe Two Coffee, Toro Lounge. Blue Cross charity shop, the O2 Shop, the entrance to Bishops Walk, the Waterstones book shop and EE 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 you enter Castle Street from the Market Place you will notice a Vodafone store. This shop took over unoccupied premises which was left by a travel agent.
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 (which underwent a refurbishment in May 2014) and the Black Horse public house on your way to TGJones (was WH Smith), a common sight on many high streets across England, but not many will occupy such a picturesque building.
Continue along Castle Street, past White Stuff and Turner and Hares, and you will discover that the buildings housing shops will change to buildings housing estate agents and restaurants. As we proceed towards Tetbury Road we will pass a curry house (Raj-doot) and a number of other eating establishments.
Walk a little further down Castle Street and we will reach an estate agent (Hamptons) at the end of the road, 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 and places to eat including the AGA shop, Pizza Express and Biggie Best. Just before the the Post Office redevelopment is Silver Street (more of which in a minute). The Post Office redevelopment includes shops such as Encore and Lord. The Post Office redevelopment means that Castle Street is now linked to Black Jack Street. Further down Castle Street you will find Tidings the greeting card shop, an opticians, cafe and finally the Vodafone store, mentioned earlier, on the corner of Castle Street and the Market Place.
Silver Street is a small side street where you will find M.A.D.E., Design Flooring Cirencester and a dental surgery among others.
At the bottom of Castle Street (at the junction with Cricklade 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.
Black Jack Street is a small one-way street where you will find Jesse Smith's butchers and Knead Bakery among other shops such as Keith's, John Lewis of Hungerford (kitchens) and Sassy & Boo. Black Jack Street now links back to Castle Street thanks to the redevelopment of the old Post Office area.
In West Market Place you can find Landmark, Fat Face, a framing shop (Wallspace), an electrical shop, Oxfam, a gallery and the Loiuse Parry studio.
While Swan Yard is an established shopping area, the Post Office Redevelopment is a relatively new addition which was developed when the Post Office sorting centre moved from its town centre location to Love Lane. The Post Office still has a presence here, and newcomers include Coffee#1, Encore and Lord.
Swan Yard is home to the skateboarding mecca that is Decimal and Signature Hairdressing.
On the edges of Cirencester you will find the likes of Tesco, Aldi, Waitrose and, in the Love Lane area, Lidl, Austin's Country Store, Ride 24/7, Travis Perkins and Wickes. Also in the Love Lane area is a retail park with outlets including Pets at Home and KFC.
Dobbies garden centre is just a short drive from Cirencester town centre. There is a large car park on-site.
For more information on shopping in Cirencester visit the Cirencester Shopping website.
