LIFE in Cirencester over the years is captured in a new book by WGS nostalgia writer Robert Heaven.

Cirencester has a rich and diverse history dating back to Roman times when, known as Corinium, it was the second largest settlement outside London.

Today, apart from its heritage many visitors are drawn here by the town's enviable location amid the glorious Cotswold countryside.

In Lost Cirencester, Robert offers a fascinating visual ride though the last 100 years of the town's history.

Here is a snapshot of life as it was, before and after the wars.

Through a series of archive black-and-white and colour images, readers can discover the buildings and streets that were once here, places of recreation and worship, parks that have changed and activities that were, at one time, popular but which today few can remember.

The book provides a reminder of the mop fairs and carnivals that enthralled the people of Cirencester and gives an insight into the lesser-known spectacles such as the flying circus and high-wire acts that once visited the town.

Also included are the associations and clubs that held the community together in the good times as well as the bad. The unsung heroes and the locally famous people will also be represented – individuals who were once so familiar but are now names etched on headstones.

This engrossing visual chronicle, revealing the changing face of Cirencester, will be of interest to residents and visitors alike.

Robert grew up in Cirencester in the 1950s and 1960s.

He has degrees and post-graduate qualifications in art history and Victorian studies and co-curated the Richard Redgrave RA exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum and Yale University in 1988.

Robert writes for the Standard and is currently digitising and archiving the photographic archive for the Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Public Record Offices

Lost Cirencester by Robert Heaven is published by Amberley Publishing, Stroud at £15.99

ISBN: 9781445698861

Order a copy here