💷 Free entry
Abbey Grounds, Cirencester
Free 25-acre town park in the heart of Cirencester with a lake, children's play area, Roman wall remains and wide lawns.
✦ We visited
The lake and the ducks keep the youngest ones busy while the older ones explore the Roman wall. It pairs particularly well with the Corinium Museum, which is a short walk away and covers the same ground in a very different way.
Abbey Grounds sits in the centre of Cirencester on the site of a Norman Augustinian abbey, a free 25-acre park that combines open green space with quiet layers of history. The lawns spread out around the church of St John the Baptist and a pleasant lake, where swans and ducks are a reliable draw for young children who arrive with bread in hand. A children's play area with a sandpit and rope climbing frame sits within the park, and the looped paths are well suited to scooters and bikes.
The historical detail gives the park an extra dimension without any effort. The Norman arch of the original abbey gatehouse still stands in the grounds, and sections of the Roman town wall are visible in one corner of the park. Cirencester was one of the most important towns in Roman Britain, and coming across the wall after a visit to the Corinium Museum just around the corner in Park Street turns the mosaics and artefacts inside into something you can trace on the ground outside. For families who have done the museum, it is a very satisfying combination.
The park is free, central and open at all times. It works well as a destination in itself for a couple of hours of fresh air and duck feeding, or as the outdoor half of a day that also takes in the museum, the market or the town. Bring a picnic for the lawns and allow time to find the abbey arch and the Roman wall.
Good for: outdoors, history, sensory, water. Ages: 0–2, 3–4, 5–7, 8–11, 12+.
Good to know
Is Abbey Grounds in Cirencester free to visit?
Yes, the park is free to enter at any time; the adjacent Abbey Grounds car park on Dugdale Road is paid.
Is there a playground at Abbey Grounds?
Yes, there is a children's play area with a sandpit and rope climbing frame, alongside open lawns, a lake and duck-friendly paths.
What is the historical connection at Abbey Grounds?
The park occupies the site of a Norman Augustinian abbey; the original gatehouse arch and sections of the ancient Roman town wall are both visible within the grounds.
