History

Bathurst was named in 1815 for the 3rd Earl of Bathurst whose ancestral home is at Cirencester, the largest city of the Cotswolds district of Gloucestershire in the UK. Originally known as Corinium Dobunnorum, the city was once the second largest town in Roman Britain before the town was largely destroyed by the Saxons who renamed it Coryn Ceasre. The medieval wool trade during the Middle Ages saw the town boom, a period captured splendidly by the charming honey coloured stone buildings in picturesque narrow streets that you can stroll through today. The town is now a flourishing regional centre of over 18,000 and an important hub to the surrounding villages.

Cirencester is the ancestral home of Lord Bathurst, and the site of the famous Cirencester Park and the Bathurst Estate. Today the 9th Earl Bathurst still resides at the family seat of Cirencester Park. The family has lived in Cirencester since 1705. 

In 2016 Bathurst NSW and Cirencester began to establish a closer relationship based upon their historical ties and economic similarities between the regions. In 2019 a formal friendship arrangement was formalised between the two cities.

Having established this formal friendship arrangement both cities shared a desire to move beyond a symbolic relationship and to create a genuine economic partnership to benefit the local businesses and economies of both areas. The first stage in this process was the establishment of the ‘Cotswolds Store’ at the Bathurst Visitor Information Centre in October 2019. The Store stocks a selection of authentic products of Cirencester and the Cotswolds, all carefully selected and personally approved by Lord Bathurst.

The Store and Friendship Agreement will lead to even closer connections, with a number of visits also planned for the year ahead.