colchester (/ˈkoʊltʃɛstər/ is a historic market town and the largest settlement within the borough of colchester in the county of essex. colchester was the first roman founded colonia in britain, and colchester lays claim to be regarded as britain’s oldest recorded town. it was for a time the capital of roman britain, and is a member of the most ancient european towns network.
did you know that colchester’s fish and oyster industry is an important component of the town’s history and trade? the colne oyster fishery dates to the roman era, and the borough of colchester obtained rights to the fishery in 1189. the oysters from this fishery are even knowns as ‘colchester natives’! on the last friday of October every year, the mayor of colchester holds a grand oyster festival at the moot hall. the festival dates back to 1845 and every year sees a host of special guests and invitees come together to celebrate colchester’s rich heritage and community, and has become an important point in the colchester calendar.
resident jane taylor of stockwell street composed the famous nursery rhyme ‘twinkle twinkle little star’ in colchester in 1806. you can still visit stockwell street to view the little plaque that commemorates this achievement. hollytrees museum explains the conception of the nursery rhyme further, along with giving visitors a look into 300 years’ worth of domestic and childhood history in colchester. hollytree museum is free to enter and an excellent way to explore some of colchester’s hidden antiquities and treasures, including their amazing Clock gallery. for help and advice on what to do in colchester you can speak to the friendly team from the visit colchester information centre who are also based at the museum.
whilst colchester is famously britain’s ‘oldest recorded town’, the town is also a historical record holder in many other ways. impressively, colchester is home to britain’s largest surviving roman gateway (the balkerne gate) and europe’s largest surviving norman keep. the colchester castle museum explains all of these facts in exemplary detail and gives visitors a real sense of town’s historical significance. the castle was constructed on the foundations of the temple of claudius, later destroyed by boudica, when colchester (camulodunum) was the first roman capital of britain. housed within its walls, the museum contains a wealth of stunning artefacts from over 2000 years of settlement including some of the uk’s most detailed documentation of roman life in britain. the interactive exhibits tackle Norman architecture, roman medicine, witch finders and chariot racing — all of which took place in and around the castle. there are also expert-led tours around the castle’s roman vaults and the castle roof, which offer spectacular panoramic views of colchester.
did you know, colchester was home to britain’s only known roman chariot racing track that could seat 8,000 spectators?! the Roman circus centre explains the cultural and historical significance of this monumental structure which was only uncovered in 2005. the centre allows visitors to walk the outline of the circus site and examine the reconstructed stumps of the starting gates and central gateway. in the visitor centre, you can experience reconstructions of the circus through state of the art audio/video and see a model construction of the full circus to get a feel for the complete roman chariot racing experience.
situated on the river colne, colchester is 50 miles (80 kilometres) northeast of london and is connected to the capital by the a12 road and its railway station which is on the great eastern line. it is seen as a popular town for commuters, and is less than 30 miles (50 km) from London stansted airport and 20 miles (30 km) from the passenger ferry port of harwich. colchester is home to colchester castle and colchester united football club. the demonym is colcestrian.
at the time of the census in 2011, it had a population of 121,859, marking a considerable rise from the previous census and with considerable development since 2001 and ongoing building plans; it has been named as one of britain’s fastest growing towns. as the oldest recorded roman town in britain, colchester is claimed to be the oldest town in britain. it was for a time the capital of roman britain, and is a member of the most ancient european towns network.
colchester is some 50 miles (80 km) northeast of london and is connected to the capital by the a12 road and the great Eastern main line. it is seen as a popular town for commuters, and is less than 30 miles (48 km) away from stansted airport and 20 miles (32 km) from the passenger ferry port of harwich.
the gravel hill upon which colchester is built was formed in the middle pleistocene period, and was shaped into a terrace between the anglian glaciation and the ipswichian glaciation by an ancient precursor to the river colne. from these deposits beneath the town have been found palaeolithic flint tools, including at least six acheulian handaxes. further flint tools made by hunter gatherers living in the colne valley during the mesolithic have been discovered, including a tranchet axe from middlewick. in the 1980s an archaeological inventory showed that over 800 shards of pottery from the neolithic, bronze age and early iron age have been found within colchester, Along with many examples of worked flint. this included a pit found at culver street containing a ritually placed neolithic grooved ware pot, as well as find spots containing later deverel-rimbury bucket urns. colchester is surrounded by neolithic and bronze age monuments that pre-date the town, including a neolithic henge at tendring, large bronze age barrow cemeteries at dedham and langham, and a larger example at brightlingsea consisting of a cluster of 22 barrows.
soon after the roman conquest of britain in ad 43, a roman legionary fortress was established, the first in britain. later, when the roman frontier moved outwards and the twentieth legion had moved to the west (c.ad 49), camulodunum became a colonia named in a second-century inscription as colonia victricensis. this contained a large and elaborate temple to the divine claudius, the largest classical-style temple in britain, as well as at least seven other romano-british temples. colchester is home to two of the five roman theatres found in britain, the one at gosbecks (site of the iron age royal farmstead) being the largest in britain, able to seat 5,000.
camulodunum served as a provincial roman capital of britain, but was attacked and destroyed during boudica’s rebellion in ad 61. sometime after the destruction, london became the capital of the province of britannia. colchester’s town walls c. 3,000 yd. long were built c.65–80 a.d. when the roman town was rebuilt after the boudicca rebellion. In 2004, colchester archaeological trust discovered the remains of a roman circus (chariot race track) underneath the garrison in colchester, a unique find in britain. the roman town of camulodunum, officially known as colonia victricensis, reached its peak in the second and third centuries ad.
a hoard of jewellery, known as the fenwick hoard, has been discovered in the town centre.
