The 1980s – Rehearsing at the Old Museum

Following its years at Cecily Hill, Cirencester Band later moved its rehearsals to the Old Museum on Tetbury Road.

The move formed part of a decade already marked by considerable change in the Band’s leadership and organisation.

The building had originally been constructed in 1856 by the Bathurst family as the Museum of Roman Antiquities. It housed important local discoveries, including the famous Hunting Dogs and Spring Roman mosaics discovered near Dyer Street.

By the late 1880s, archaeological curation in Cirencester was beginning to move towards the Cripps family collection, which would later form part of the modern Corinium Museum.

With its spacious, galleried interior, the Old Museum subsequently proved well suited to use by local community groups, including Cirencester Band.

It became another chapter in the Band’s long history of rehearsal venues around the town.