Even in normal times the new pedestrianised Market Place can seem empty and little arid. It takes an imaginative leap to realise that, until the early 19th century, this space was filled with buildings and shops.
These paintings by the Victorian artist Ebenezer Barnard give a feel of what it might have been like:
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| Cirencester Market Place by Ebenezer Barnard (1841–1914) Bingham Gallery [from ArtUK] |
The Town Improvement Act of 1825 ordered the demolition of the ancient encroachments and alleys: here are some details from Welbore St.Clair Baddeley's splendid A History of Cirencester (1924):
It was only at the beginning of the last century that the buildings in front of the West Door of the Church finally succumbed. Today only a small island of shops in the West Market place remains.