Things to do · Cirencester
New Brewery Arts
A craft centre in Cirencester's old brewery buildings, with free exhibitions of contemporary craft, a shop of British makers' work, makers' studios, the Blend café and over 100 weekly courses and workshops.
Rainy days · Dog-friendly · Car-free
Free to wander and good on a wet day: a changing gallery, makers at work in their studios and a café. The shop is the place for a present made in Britain rather than a souvenir.
- Good: Exhibitions always free
- Good: Over 90% wheelchair access, with a lift and ramps
- Good: Assistance and well-behaved dogs welcome
- Worth knowing: Closed on Sundays
- Worth knowing: Studios keep their own hours: check before you go
- Worth knowing: No parking on site; use the town car parks
About
New Brewery Arts is a craft charity in the old buildings of the Cirencester Brewery, which closed in 1937, on Brewery Court off Cricklade Street in Cirencester. Local people saved the buildings from demolition and opened craft workshops here in 1979. The galleries, shop, studios and café in use today opened in 2008, and The Barrel Store, its guest rooms, in 2016.
The main gallery shows changing exhibitions by UK makers, designers and artists, and they are always free. Around it are makers' studios, among them the glassblowers LoCo Glass, a traditional upholsterer, a stained glass maker and a milliner, where you can watch work and buy from the maker, and the shop sells work by UK makers. Over 100 weekly courses and short workshops run each term, for adults and for under-18s.
It opens Monday to Saturday from 9.30am to 5pm, and the Blend café until 4pm; it is closed on Sundays. Entry is free and there is nothing to book unless you join a class. The studios are independent and keep their own hours, so check with a maker before travelling to see one. Allow an hour, longer with lunch.
A lift, ramps and walkways give over 90% wheelchair access. The Corinium Museum and the parish church of St John the Baptist are a short walk away.
Opening hours and season
| Monday | 09:30 to 17:00 |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 09:30 to 17:00 |
| Wednesday | 09:30 to 17:00 |
| Thursday | 09:30 to 17:00 |
| Friday | 09:30 to 17:00 |
| Saturday | 09:30 to 17:00 |
| Sunday | Closed |
Monday to Saturday, 9.30am to 5pm; Blend café 9.30am to 4pm. Closed on Sundays. Makers' studios keep their own hours.
Facilities
- Blend caféMonday to Saturday, 9.30am to 4pm
- ShopWork by UK makers
- Lift and rampsOver 90% wheelchair access
- Disabled toiletOn the ground floor
- Brewery car parkPaid, 30m away, with disabled parking
- Dogs welcomeAssistance and well-behaved dogs
The details
- Time to allow
- An hour, or a day on a course
- Features
- Café · Shop · Events and meetings
- History
- Craft workshops in the Cirencester Brewery buildings since 1979
- Parking
- The paid Brewery car park is 30m away; Sheep Street long stay is five minutes' walk (follow the brown signs). Satnav GL7 1HW.
- Without a car
- Kemble station is 3 miles away, with buses and taxis, and National Express coaches serve Cirencester. Coaches drop off at the coach points along the old Tetbury Road.
Photos
In the workshops 
Stone carving 
Work by makers 
A workshop studio
Location
Accessibility
- Accessible toilet
- Assistance dogs welcome
- Parking within 50 metres
A lift, ramps and aerial walkways give over 90% wheelchair access. A disabled toilet is on the ground floor, and disabled parking is in the adjoining Brewery car park. The Barrel Store has rooms adapted for guests with access needs.
Places to stay nearby
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The King's Head
Hotel · Cirencester
A former coaching inn on Cirencester's Market Place with 63 bedrooms, one of Brakspear's Honeycomb Houses, open from 7am daily, with dog-friendly dining.
Dog-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
-
The Fleece
Inn · Cirencester
An inn with rooms on Cirencester's Market Place, run by Thwaites, with stays from £125 a room and dogs welcome in the bar.
Verified Oct 2026
-
The Corinium Hotel
Hotel · Cirencester
A family-run hotel in a listed old house on Gloucester Street, Cirencester, with 15 rooms, a walled garden, free parking and dogs in every room.
Dog-friendly · Wedding venues
Verified Oct 2026
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- Black Horse 0.0 km away
- Sam & Jak 0.1 km away
- The King's Head 0.1 km away
- Igloo 0.1 km away
Sights nearby
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St John the Baptist, Cirencester
Sight · Church · Cirencester
Cirencester's great wool church on the Market Place, free to visit: a fifteenth-century tower you can climb on set Saturdays, a three-storey porch of about 1490 that served as the town hall, fan vaults, medieval glass and the Boleyn Cup. Grade I.
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Cirencester Park
Sight · Common or park · Cirencester
The Bathurst family's landscape park on the western edge of Cirencester, planted from 1714 by the first Earl Bathurst with Alexander Pope: 8km of rides and woods along the Broad Ride, with Pope's Seat and Alfred's Hall. Grade I registered; a day pass is needed.
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Pope's Seat, Cirencester Park
Sight · Historic building · Cirencester
A small stone pavilion of the early eighteenth century at Seven Rides in Cirencester Park, with a Doric portico and POPE'S SEAT cut in its pediment, named after the poet who helped Lord Bathurst lay out the park. Grade II*; a park day pass is needed.