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Colchester ( ) is a
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
in
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
, in the
East of England The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. This region was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire ...
. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The
demonym A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...
is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first
major city The United Nations uses three definitions for what constitutes a city, as not all cities in all jurisdictions are classified using the same criteria. Cities may be defined as the cities proper, the extent of their urban area, or their metropo ...
in
Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered was ...
and its first capital. Colchester therefore claims to be Britain's first city. It has been an important military base since the Roman era, with Colchester Garrison currently housing the
16th Air Assault Brigade 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team, from 1999 to 2021 16 Air Assault Brigade, is a formation of the British Army based in Colchester in the county of Essex. It is the Army's rapid response airborne formation and is the only brigade in the Britis ...
. Situated on the River Colne, Colchester is northeast of London. The city is connected to London by the
A12 road This is a list of roads designated A12. Entries are sorted in alphabetical order by country. * A012 road (Argentina), a road around the city of Rosario * A12 motorway (Austria), a road connecting Kufstein and the German Autobahn A 93 to Landec ...
and the
Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and t ...
railway. Colchester is less than from
London Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acro ...
and from the
port of Harwich Harwich International Port is a North Sea seaport in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports. It lies on the south bank of the River Stour, Suffolk, River Stour one mile upstream from the town of Harwich, opposite the Port of Felixstowe. The ...
. Attractions in and around the city include
Colchester United Football Club Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...
, Colchester Zoo, and several art galleries.
Colchester Castle Colchester Castle is a Norman castle in Colchester, Essex, England, dating from the second half of the eleventh century. The keep of the castle is mostly intact and is the largest example of its kind anywhere in Europe, due to its being built ...
was constructed in the eleventh century on earlier Roman foundations; it now contains a museum. The main campus of the University of Essex is located just outside the city. Local government is the responsibility of the
City of Colchester The City of Colchester is a local government district with city status, in Essex, England, named after its main settlement, Colchester. The city covers an area of and stretches from Dedham Vale on the Suffolk border in the north to Mersea Islan ...
and Essex County Council.


Name

There are several theories about the origin of the name ''Colchester''. Some contend that is derived from the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
words '' colonia'' (referring to a type of
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
settlement with rights equivalent to those of Roman citizens, one of which was believed to have been founded in the vicinity of Colchester) and ''
castra In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular and ...
'', meaning ''fortifications'' (referring to the city's walls, the oldest in Britain).Crummy, Philip (1997) City of Victory; the story of Colchester – Britain's first Roman town. Published by Colchester Archaeological Trust ()Ashdown-Hill, John (2009). Mediaeval Colchester's Lost Landmarks. Published by The Breedon Books Publishing Company Limited. () The earliest forms of the name Colchester are ''Colenceaster'' and ''Colneceastre'' from the 10th century, with the modern spelling of ''Colchester'' being found in the 15th century. In this way of interpreting the name, the River Colne which runs through the city takes its name from ''Colonia'' as well.
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
(German ''Köln'') also gained its name from a similar etymology (from its Roman name
Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium was the Roman colony in the Rhineland from which the city of Cologne, now in Germany, developed. It was usually called ''Colonia'' (colony) and was the capital of the Roman province of Germania Inferior and t ...
). Other etymologists are confident that the Colne's name is of Celtic (pre-Roman) origin, sharing its origin with several other rivers Colne or Clun around Britain, and that Colchester is derived from ''Colne'' and ''Castra''. Ekwall went as far as to say "it has often been held that Colchester contains as first element atin''colonia'' ... this derivation is ruled out of court by the fact that Colne is the name of several old villages situated a good many miles from Colchester and on the Colne. The identification of Colonia with Colchester is doubtful."Eilert Ekwall (1928). English River-names. Published by Oxford at the Clarendon Press. () The popular association of the name with
King Coel Coel (Old Welsh: ''Coil''), also called ''Coel Hen'' (Coel the Old) and King Cole, is a figure prominent in Welsh literature and legend since the Middle Ages. Early Welsh tradition knew of a Coel Hen, a 4th-century leader in Roman Britain, Rom ...
has no academic merit.


History


Prehistory

The gravel hill upon which Colchester is built was formed in the Middle Pleistocene period, and was shaped into a
terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...
between the Anglian glaciation and the
Ipswichian The Eemian (also called the last interglacial, Sangamonian Stage, Ipswichian, Mikulin, Kaydaky, penultimate,NOAA - Penultimate Interglacial Period http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/global-warming/penultimate-interglacial-period Valdivia or Riss-Würm) wa ...
glaciation A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...
by an ancient precursor to the River Colne.Crummy, Philip (1992) Colchester Archaeological Report 6: Excavations at Culver Street, the Gilberd School, and other sites in Colchester 1971–85. Published by Colchester Archaeological Trust () From these deposits beneath the city have been found
Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
flint tools, including at least six
Acheulian Acheulean (; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French ''acheuléen'' after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated ...
handaxes. Further flint tools made by hunter gatherers living in the Colne Valley during the
Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...
have been discovered, including a
tranchet axe A Tranchet axe is a lithic tool made by removing a flake, known, when using this method, as a tranchet flake, parallel to the final intended cutting edge of the tool which creates a single straight edge as wide as the tool itself. It is found in ...
from Middlewick. In the 1980s an archaeological inventory showed that over 800 shards of pottery from the
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
,
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
and early
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
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 Grooved ware is the name given to a pottery style of the British Neolithic. Its manufacturers are sometimes known as the Grooved ware people. Unlike the later Beaker ware, Grooved culture was not an import from the continent but seems to have dev ...
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.


Celtic origins

Colchester is said to be the oldest recorded town in Britain on the grounds that it was mentioned by
Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
, who died in AD 79, although the Celtic name of the town, ''Camulodunon'' appears on coins minted by tribal chieftain Tasciovanus in the period 2010 BC. Before the Roman conquest of Britain it was already a centre of power for
Cunobelin Cunobeline (or Cunobelin, from Latin , derived from Common Brittonic ''*Cunobelinos'' "Strong as a Dog", "Strong Dog") was a king in pre-Roman Britain from about AD 9 until about AD 40.Malcolm Todd (2004)"Cunobelinus_ ymbeline/nowiki>_(d._''c' ...
known to Shakespeare as Cymbeline king of the Catuvellauni">Cymbeline">ymbeline/nowiki>_(d._''c' ...
known to Shakespeare as Cymbeline king of the Catuvellauni (c. 5 BCAD 40), who minted coins there. Its Celtic name, Camulodunon, variously represented as CA, CAM, CAMV, CAMVL and CAMVLODVNO on the coins of Cunobelinus, means 'the fortress of [the war god] Camulos'. During the 30s AD Camulodunon controlled a large swathe of Southern and Eastern Britain, with Cunobelin called "''King of the Britons''" by Roman writers. Camulodunon is sometimes popularly considered one of many possible sites around Britain for the legendary (perhaps mythical)
Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the ...
of King Arthur, though the name ''Camelot'' (first mentioned by the 12th century French Arthurian storyteller
Chrétien de Troyes Chrétien de Troyes (Modern ; fro, Crestien de Troies ; 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on Arthurian subjects, and for first writing of Lancelot, Percival and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's works, including ''E ...
) is most likely a corruption of ''
Camlann The Battle of Camlann ( cy, Gwaith Camlan or ''Brwydr Camlan'') is the legendary final battle of King Arthur, in which Arthur either died or was fatally wounded while fighting either with or against Mordred, who also perished. The original leg ...
'', a now unknown location first mentioned in the 10th century Welsh annalistic text
Annales Cambriae The (Latin for ''Annals of Wales'') is the title given to a complex of Latin chronicles compiled or derived from diverse sources at St David's in Dyfed, Wales. The earliest is a 12th-century presumed copy of a mid-10th-century original; later ed ...
, identified as the place where Arthur was slain in battle.


Roman period

Soon after the
Roman conquest of Britain The Roman conquest of Britain refers to the conquest of the island of Britain by occupying Roman forces. It began in earnest in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, and was largely completed in the southern half of Britain by 87 when the Staneg ...
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 Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
found in Britain; the example at Gosbecks (site of the
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
royal farmstead) is 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 Boudica or Boudicca (, known in Latin chronicles as Boadicea or Boudicea, and in Welsh as ()), was a queen of the ancient British Iceni tribe, who led a failed uprising against the conquering forces of the Roman Empire in AD 60 or 61. She ...
's rebellion in AD 61. Sometime after the destruction, London became the capital of the province of
Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...
. Colchester's city 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 city reached its peak in the second and third centuries AD.Faulkner, Neil. (1994) Late Roman Colchester, In Oxford Journal of Archaeology 13(1) It may have reached a population of 30,000 in that period. In 2014 a hoard of jewellery, known as The Fenwick Hoard, named for the shop it was found beneath, was discovered in the town centre. The director of Colchester Archaeological Trust, Philip Crummy, described the hoard as being of "national importance and one of the finest ever uncovered in Britain".


Sub-Roman and Saxon period

There is evidence of hasty re-organisation of Colchester's defences around 268–82 AD, followed later, during the fourth century, by the blocking of the Balkerne Gate. John Morris suggested that the name
Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the ...
of Arthurian legend was probably a reference to Camulodunum, the capital of
Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...
in Roman times. The archaeologist
Sir Mortimer Wheeler Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler CH CIE MC TD (10 September 1890 – 22 July 1976) was a British archaeologist and officer in the British Army. Over the course of his career, he served as Director of both the National Museum of Wales a ...
was the first to propose that the lack of early
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
finds in a triangle between London, Colchester and
St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...
could indicate a 'sub-Roman triangle' where British rule continued after the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons. Since then excavations have revealed some early Saxon occupation, including a fifth-century wooden hut built on the ruins of a Roman house in present-day Lion Walk. Archaeological excavations have shown that public buildings were abandoned, and is very doubtful whether Colchester survived as a settlement with any urban characteristics after the sixth century. The chronology of its revival is obscure. But the ninth-century ''Historia Brittonum'', attributed to
Nennius Nennius – or Nemnius or Nemnivus – was a Welsh monk of the 9th century. He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the ''Historia Brittonum'', based on the prologue affixed to that work. This attribution is widely considered ...
, mentions the town, which it calls ''Cair Colun'', in a list of the thirty most important cities in Britain. Colchester was in the area assigned to the Danelaw in c.880, and remained in Danish hands until 917 when it was besieged and recaptured by the army of
Edward the Elder Edward the Elder (17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousin Æt ...
. The tenth-century Saxons called the town ''Colneceastre'', which is directly equivalent to the ''Cair Colun'' of 'Nennius'. The tower of Holy Trinity Church is late Saxon work.


Medieval and Tudor periods

Medieval Colchester's main landmark is
Colchester Castle Colchester Castle is a Norman castle in Colchester, Essex, England, dating from the second half of the eleventh century. The keep of the castle is mostly intact and is the largest example of its kind anywhere in Europe, due to its being built ...
, which is an 11th-century Norman keep, and built on top of the vaults of the old Roman temple. There are notable medieval ruins in Colchester, including the surviving gateway of the
Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...
abbey of St John the Baptist (known locally as "St John's Abbey"), and the ruins of the
Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...
priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...
of
St Botolph Botolph of Thorney (also called Botolph, Botulph or Botulf; later known as Saint Botolph; died around 680) was an English abbot and saint. He is regarded as the patron saint of boundaries, and by extension, of trade and travel, as well as vario ...
(known locally as "
St Botolph's Priory St. Botolph's Priory was a medieval house of Augustinian canons in Colchester, Essex, founded c. 1093. The priory had the distinction of being the first and leading Augustinian convent in England until its dissolution in 1536.Ashdown-Hill, John ( ...
"). Many of Colchester's parish churches date from this period. Colchester's medieval town seal incorporated the biblical text ''Intravit ihc: in quoddam castellum et mulier quedam excepit illum'' 'Jesus entered a certain castle and a woman there welcomed him' (Luke 10.38). This is a commonplace allegory in which a castle is likened to Mary's womb, and explains the name of Maidenburgh St, neighbouring the castle. In 1189, Colchester was granted its first known
royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...
by King Richard I ( Richard the Lionheart), although the wording suggests that it was based on an earlier one. It granted Colchester's
burgess __NOTOC__ Burgess may refer to: People and fictional characters * Burgess (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Burgess (given name), a list of people Places * Burgess, Michigan, an unincorporated community * Burgess, Missouri, U ...
es the right to elect bailiffs and a
justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
. The borough celebrated the 800th anniversary of its charter in 1989. Colchester developed rapidly during the later 14th century as a centre of the woollen cloth industry, and became famous in many parts of Europe for its russets (fabrics of a grey-brown colour). This allowed the population to recover exceptionally rapidly from the effects of the
Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
, particularly by immigration into the town.R.H. Britnell, ''Growth and Decline in Colchester, 1300–1525'' (Cambridge, 1986, reprinted 2009) Rovers Tye Farm, now a pub on Ipswich Road, has been documented as being established by 1353. By the 'New Constitutions' of 1372, a borough council was instituted; the two
bailiff A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offi ...
s who represented the borough to the king were now expected to consult sixteen ordinary councillors and eight auditors (later called aldermen). Even though Colchester's fortunes were more mixed during the 15th century, it was still a more important place by the 16th century than it had been in the 13th. In 1334 it would not have ranked among England's wealthiest fifty towns, to judge from the taxation levied that year. By 1524, however, it ranked twelfth, as measured by its assessment to a lay subsidy. Between 1550 and 1600, a large number of
weaver Weaver or Weavers may refer to: Activities * A person who engages in weaving fabric Animals * Various birds of the family Ploceidae * Crevice weaver spider family * Orb-weaver spider family * Weever (or weever-fish) Arts and entertainment ...
s and clothmakers from
Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
emigrated to Colchester and the surrounding areas. They were famed for the production of "Bays and Says" cloths which were woven from
wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...
and are normally associated with Baize and
Serge Serge may refer to: *Serge (fabric), a type of twill fabric *Serge (llama) (born 2005), a llama in the Cirque Franco-Italien and internet meme *Serge (name), a masculine given name (includes a list of people with this name) *Serge (post), a hitchi ...
although surviving examples show that they were rather different from their modern equivalents. An area in Colchester town centre is still known as the Dutch Quarter and many buildings there date from the Tudor period. During this period Colchester was one of the most prosperous wool towns in England, and was also famed for its
oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...
s. Flemish refugees in the 1560s brought innovations that revived the local cloth trade, establishing the Dutch Bay Hall for quality control of the textiles for which Colchester became famous. The old Roman wall runs along Northgate Street in the Dutch Quarter. In the reign of "Bloody Mary" (1553–1558) Colchester became a centre of Protestant "heresy" and in consequence at least 19 local people were burned at the stake at the Castle, at first in front, later within the walls. They are commemorated on a tablet near the altar of St Peter's Church. (Sources: John Foxe, Book of Martyrs; Mark Byford, The Process of Reformation in a Tudor Town)


17th and 18th century

The town saw the start of the Stour Valley riots of 1642, when the town house of
John Lucas, 1st Baron Lucas of Shenfield John Lucas, 1st Baron Lucas of Shenfield (23 October 1606 – 2 July 1671) was an English Royalist soldier, industrialist and landowner. Lucas was the son of Sir Thomas Lucas and Elizabeth Leighton. He was one of eight children which included ot ...
was attacked by a large crowd. In 1648, during the
Second English Civil War The Second English Civil War took place between February to August 1648 in Kingdom of England, England and Wales. It forms part of the series of conflicts known collectively as the 1639-1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which include the 1641 ...
, a
Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...
army led by Lord Goring entered the town. A pursuing
Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...
army led by Thomas Fairfax and
Henry Ireton Henry Ireton ((baptised) 3 November 1611 – 26 November 1651) was an English general in the Parliamentarian army during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and the son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell. He died of disease outside Limerick in November 16 ...
surrounded the town for eleven and a half weeks, a period known as the
Siege of Colchester The siege of Colchester occurred in the summer of 1648 when the English Civil War reignited in several areas of Britain. Colchester found itself in the thick of the unrest when a Royalist army on its way through East Anglia to raise suppor ...
. It started on 13 June. The Royalists surrendered in the late summer (on 27 August Lord Goring signed the surrender document in the Kings Head Inn) and
Charles Lucas Sir Charles Lucas, 1613 to 28 August 1648, was a professional soldier from Essex, who served as a Cavalier, Royalist cavalry leader during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Taken prisoner at the end of the First English Civil War in March 1646, ...
and George Lisle were executed in the grounds of
Colchester Castle Colchester Castle is a Norman castle in Colchester, Essex, England, dating from the second half of the eleventh century. The keep of the castle is mostly intact and is the largest example of its kind anywhere in Europe, due to its being built ...
. A small obelisk marks the spot where they fell.
Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...
mentions in ''A tour through
England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
'' that the town lost 5259 people to the
plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...
in 1665, ''"more in proportion than any of its neighbours, or than the city of London"''.Daniel Defoe, ''A tour through England and Wales'', J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd, London (1959
Available online here
 By the time he wrote this in 1722, however, he estimated its population to be around 40,000 (including "out-villages"). Between 1797 and 1815 Colchester was the HQ of the Army's Eastern District, had a garrison of up to 6,000, and played a main role in defence against a threatened French or Dutch invasion, At various times it was the base of such celebrated officers as Lord Cornwallis, Generals Sir James Craig and David Baird, and Captain William Napier. It was in a state of alarm during the invasion threat of 1803/4, a period well chronicled by the contemporary local author Jane Taylor.


Victorian period

Colchester is noted for its Victorian architecture. Significant landmarks include the Colchester
Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
and the
Jumbo Water Tower Jumbo Water Tower is a water tower at the Balkerne Gate in Colchester, Essex. Charles Clegg (c.1855-c.1904), the Borough Surveyor and Engineer, designed the structure. The tower is 40.1m tall overall and contains 1.2 million red bricks. The tower ...
. In 1884, the city was struck by the Colchester earthquake, estimated to have been 4.7 on the
Richter Scale The Richter scale —also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale—is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Francis Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 ...
causing extensive regional damage. The
Paxman diesels Paxman is a major United Kingdom, British brand of diesel engines. Ownership has changed on a number of occasions since the company's formation in 1865, and now the brand is part of MAN Diesel & Turbo. At its peak, the Paxman works covered and ...
business has been associated with Colchester since 1865 when James Noah Paxman founded a partnership with the brothers Henry and Charles Davey ('Davey, Paxman, and Davey') and opened the Standard Ironworks. In 1925, Paxman produced its first spring injection oil engine and joined the English Electric Diesel Group in 1966later becoming part of the GEC Group. Since the 1930s the Paxman company's main business has been the production of
diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...
s.


20th century and later

In the early 20th century Colchester lobbied to be the seat for a new
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...
for
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
, to be split off from the existing Diocese of Rochester. The bid was unsuccessful, with county town Chelmsford forming the seat of the new diocese. In the 2nd World War Colchester's main significance lay in its infantry and light-anti-aircraft training units, and in the Paxman factory, which supplied a large proportion of the engines for British submarines and landing craft. Occasionally bombed by stray single German aircraft in 1940 and 1941, in 1942 more serious attempts to hit its industries were made by the Luftwaffe. None of these attacks hit its target, but in the 11 August raid bombs exploded on Severall's psychiatric hospital, killing 38 elderly patients. In February 1944 a single raider caused a huge fire in the St Botolph's area which gutted warehouses, shops and part of Paxman's Britannia Works. The total wartime bombing death toll in the borough was 55. (Sources:--Eastern Command, 11 Corps, various divisional, brigade and battalion, and Colchester Garrison war diaries in WO 166 series at National Archives, Kew; 4 Civil Defence Region reports in HO 192/193 series at National Archives; CW 1 Police Incident records at Essex County Record Office). The University of Essex was established just outside the city boundaries at Wivenhoe Park in 1961. The £22.7M A120 Colchester Eastern Bypass opened in June 1982. Colchester and the surrounding area is currently undergoing significant regeneration, including controversial greenfield residential development in Mile End and Braiswick. At the time of the
2011 UK Census A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...
, Colchester and its surrounding built up area 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. The local football team, Colchester United, moved into a brand new stadium at Cuckoo Farm in 2008. Colchester, Camulodunum and Colonia Victricensis forms one of 38 sites seeking
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
status, with a shortlist to be submitted to
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
for consideration in 2011. On 20 May 2022, it was announced that as part of the Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours, Colchester would receive city status. It was slated to receive the status formally by
letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...
on 12 September 2022, however following the
death of Queen Elizabeth II On 8 September 2022, at 15:10 BST, Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, and the longest-reigning British monarch, died of old age at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. The Queen's death wa ...
, the ceremony was postponed. On 29 September 2022, the letters patent was made public, with Colchester receiving city status dated 5 September 2022 by the late Queen.


Climate

Colchester is in one of the driest regions of the United Kingdom with average annual precipitation at , although among the wetter places in Essex. Colchester is generally regarded as having an
Oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
(
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
''Cfb'') like the rest of the United Kingdom. Its easterly position within the British Isles makes Colchester less prone to Atlantic depressions and weather fronts but more prone to droughts. This is because, like most areas in southeast England, Colchester's weather is influenced more by Continental weather patterns than by Atlantic weather systems. This leads to a dry climate compared to the rest of the UK all year round and occasional (relative) extremes of temperatures during the year (occasional high 20°Cs/low 30°Cs during the summer) and quite a few nights below freezing during the winter months (daytime high temperatures are seldom below freezing). Any rainfall that does come from Atlantic weather systems is usually light, but a few heavy showers and
thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...
s can take place during the summer. Snow falls on average 13 days a year during winter and early spring. The highest temperature recorded in Colchester was in August 2003 (during the
2003 European heat wave The 2003 European heat wave saw the hottest summer recorded in Europe since at least 1540. France was hit especially hard. The heat wave led to health crises in several countries and combined with drought to create a crop shortfall in parts of S ...
), and the lowest was in December 2010.


Garrison

Colchester has been an important military garrison since the
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
era. The Colchester Garrison is currently home to the
16th Air Assault Brigade 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team, from 1999 to 2021 16 Air Assault Brigade, is a formation of the British Army based in Colchester in the county of Essex. It is the Army's rapid response airborne formation and is the only brigade in the Britis ...
. The Army's only military corrective training centre, known colloquially within the forces and locally as " The Glasshouse" after the original military prison in
Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...
, is in Berechurch Hall Road, on the outskirts of Colchester. The centre holds men and women from all three services who are sentenced to serve periods of detention. From 1998 to 2008, the garrison area of the city underwent massive redevelopment. A lot of the
Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
land was sold for private housing development and parts of the garrison were moved. Many parts of the garrison now stand empty awaiting the second phase of the development. Since 2006, Colchester has been one of 12 places in the UK where Royal Salutes are fired to mark Royal anniversaries and visits by foreign heads of state. From 2009, these salutes have taken place in Castle Park.
BFBS The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. Editorial control is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces themselve ...
Radio broadcasts from studios on the base on 107.0FM as part of its UK Bases network


Governance

Colchester Borough Council is the local authority. The political composition of the council as of the 2021 election: * Conservative - 23 seats *
Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
 – 11 seats * Liberal Democrats – 12 seats * Highwoods Independents – 3 seats *
Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
  - 2 Control of the council is currently held by a coalition of the Conservatives and Independents by just one seat. The Liberal Democrats, the Labour Party and the Green Party operate a combined opposition. The city is also represented on
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
County Council, containing six County electoral divisions. Villages within the borough are represented by various parish councils. The former municipal borough of Colchester contains only one parish council (
Myland Myland (also called Mile End) is a civil parish in Essex, England. It is now a northern suburb of Colchester. The original village began approximately one mile north of the centre of Colchester which probably accounts for its name. This has var ...
Community Council formed in 1999) with the rest of Colchester Town being unparished since the parish was abolished on 1 April 1974. The seat of local government is Colchester Town Hall, a late-Victorian baroque edifice by John Belcher. It is the latest in a series of local government buildings to have stood on the same site since the 12th century. The 162-foot clock tower was presented by James Paxman; it is topped by a figure of
St Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...
, who is linked by legend to the city. The Member of Parliament for Colchester is
Will Quince William James Quince (born 27 December 1982) is a British politician and former lawyer serving as Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care since 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he was first elected at the 2015 general election ...
of the
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
. The city's former MP, Liberal Democrat Sir Bob Russell, has held the ceremonial role of
High Steward of Colchester The High Steward of Colchester is a ceremonial office awarded by Colchester Borough Council, Essex, England. The High steward (civic), stewardship was established by royal charter of Charles I of England, Charles I dated 9 July 1635. The charter, ...
since 2015.


Demography

* ''See Demographics of Colchester borough''


Culture


Museums

Colchester houses several museums. The Castle Museum, found within
Colchester Castle Colchester Castle is a Norman castle in Colchester, Essex, England, dating from the second half of the eleventh century. The keep of the castle is mostly intact and is the largest example of its kind anywhere in Europe, due to its being built ...
, features an extensive exhibit on Roman Colchester. Nearby are
Hollytrees Museum Hollytrees Museum is a free to visit, publicly owned museum in the centre of Colchester and close to Colchester Castle. It is situated in an eighteenth-century house ("Hollytrees"), which was used as a private residence until 1929, when it becam ...
, a social history museum with children's exhibits in the former home of Charles Gray, and the city's Natural History Museum, located in the former All Saints' Church. The Colchester Archaeological Trust have opened a visitor centre and museum at the former Cavalry Barracks to display finds from the Roman Circus, with replicas and models of the circus, as well as finds from the nearby Roman cemeteries. In 2014 brick and marble columns from the monumental façade of the precinct of the Temple of Claudius were discovered behind the High Street, with plans to make them visible to the public.


Gosbecks Archaeological Park

Gosbecks Archaeological Park is situated south-west of the city, and consists of a preserved Roman theatre and Romano-British temple marked out on the ground. The park was the location of a large high-status late Iron Age farmstead, known as "
Cunobelin Cunobeline (or Cunobelin, from Latin , derived from Common Brittonic ''*Cunobelinos'' "Strong as a Dog", "Strong Dog") was a king in pre-Roman Britain from about AD 9 until about AD 40.Malcolm Todd (2004)"Cunobelinus_ ymbeline/nowiki>_(d._''c' ...
's farm" after the Catuvellauni king, whose coin moulds were found in large quantities at the site. In the
Roman period The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
the site was the location of a large Romano-British temple and Britain's largest Roman theatre Roman theatres derive from and are part of the overall evolution of earlier Greek theatres. Indeed, much of the architectural influence the Romans came from the Greeks, and theatre structural design was no different from other buildings. However ...
, twice as large as the one in the city. The park is also close to the post-conquest
Stanway burials, a Roman fort and the still-extant defensive earthworks of the Iron Age Camulodunum">fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
(the most extensive of their kind in Britain). The Iron Age earthwork ditch and bank defences are open to the public as wooded parkland.


Arts

Opened in 1972, the Mercury Theatre, Colchester">Mercury Theatre The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and producer John Houseman. The company produced theatrical presentations, radio programs and motion pictures. The Mercury also ...
 is a repertory theatre. Located nearby is Colchester Arts Centre, a multi-function arts venue located in the former St Mary-at-the-Walls church, and home of the Colchester Beer Festival. The Headgate Theatre is also located in Colchester. Firstsite is a contemporary art organisation, based in the Visual Arts Facility, which was designed by
Rafael Viñoly Rafael Viñoly Beceiro (born 1944) is a Uruguayan architect. He is the principal of Rafael Viñoly Architects, which he founded in 1983. The firm has offices in New York City, Palo Alto, London, Manchester, Abu Dhabi, and Buenos Aires. Viñ ...
, and opened in September 2011, at a total cost of approximately £25.5 million, £9 million more than the original estimate. The Minories houses The Minories Galleries, which is managed by Colchester Institute and presents contemporary exhibitions by artists from the region. The building is owned by the Victor Batte-Lay Foundation. There are several bars with live music in the city. In 2009, an art collective called 'Slack Space' took up some of the closed-down shops in the city and converted them into art galleries with the hope of promoting art and design in the city. The Colchester School of Art, opened in 1885, is based in the Colchester Institute, near the centre of the city. A film festival, showcasing a selection of new feature and short films from around the world and centred at the VAF, was held from to 2012 to 2017 (excluding 2016). The city has 12 cinema screens spread across the 8 screen Odeon, 3 screen Curzon and 1 screen in the firstsite gallery.


Sport

The city's link with
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
began with the amateur club Colchester Town, which was formed in 1867 and dissolved in 1937. They were succeeded by professional club Colchester United, who compete in
Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
(as at Season 2022–23) and play home games at Colchester Community Stadium. Founded in 1937, the club entered the Football League in 1950. Colchester United Ladies play in the FA Women's Premier League Southern Division. Other sports teams based in the city include Colchester School of Gymnastics, Colchester Rugby Football Club, Colchester Gladiators American Football Club, Colchester Weight Lifting Club, Colchester Powerlifting Club (ColPower) and Colchester & East Essex Cricket Club.
Essex County Cricket Club Essex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Essex. Founded in 1876, the club had minor county status until 1894 when ...
play some of their home games at
Castle Park Cricket Ground Castle Park Cricket Ground is an English cricket ground in Colchester. The ground is in Lower Castle Park, part of the land surrounding Colchester Castle and within the area of the Historic England Grade II registered park and garden. It was used ...
, home of Colchester & East Essex. Sports facilities in Colchester include the sports centre, Colchester Leisure World, Colchester Garrison Athletics Stadium (a co-operative facility used by both the army and civilian population) and a
skatepark A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, q ...
.


Other

Colchester Zoo is a large
zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes. The term ''zoological g ...
based in the Stanway area, on the outskirts of city. The centre is home to upmarket department store Fenwicks (still referred to by locals by its former name of Williams & Griffin (Willie Gees)), Primark, H&M, Boots, WH Smith and many local independent stores. The 90 year old M&S store on the High Street relocated to Stanway to the west of the city in 2022 adding to the large empty retails stores of the former co-op and Debenhams in the heart of the city


Landmarks


Colchester War Memorial

Colchester suffered in the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, losing some 1,248 in the conflict. As early as 1918 prominent voices in the city were calling for a war memorial, with Councillor Edgar A. Hunt making the first formal proposition in an open letter to the press published on Christmas Day of that year. Shortly after the publication of the letter, a committee was set up to decide the form of the monument, with several practical schemes favoured by the working class of the city. The committee formed to choose a proposal decided on a sculptural monument on 16 May 1919 with a vote of 7 to 9. Following a visit to the Royal Academy's War Memorial Exhibition the sculptor
Henry Charles Fehr Henry Charles Fehr Royal British Society of Sculptors, FRBS (4 November 1867 – 13 May 1940) was a British monumental and architectural sculptor active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He produced several notable public scu ...
was chosen to undertake the work, for which he was paid £3,000. The memorial consists of three human figures on a sculptural pedestal. The figures are of
Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...
, an allegorical representation of peace and the Goddess Nike.


Roman walls

Construction of the walls of Colchester took place between 65 and 80 AD, shortly after the destruction of the undefended '' colonia'' by Boudicca, and they continued in use until after the Siege of Colchester in 1648. Two large stretches of the wall are still standing on the west and north sides and a number of fragments are visible along the rest of the circuit. A notable survival is the
Balkerne Gate Balkerne Gate is a Roman gateway in Colchester (the former Camulodunum). It is the largest surviving gateway in Roman Britain and was built where the Roman road from Londinium intersected the town wall of Camulodunum. It is a scheduled monument ...
, which is the earliest and most complete Roman gateway in the United Kingdom. A circular walk of nearly follows the course of the wall and the surviving portions.


"Jumbo" water tower

Completed in 1883 when the Town Council took over Colchester's water supply, the
water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...
was originally called the "Balkerne Water Tower", but soon became known as " Jumbo" because of its large size, which prompted the addition of an elephant-shaped
weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...
at its peak. The tower was decommissioned in 1987 and has had several private owners pending redevelopment.


Colchester Town Hall

The town hall is built on the site of the original moot hall, first recorded in 1277 and demolished in 1843. Replacing a Victorian town hall which had become unstable, work on the present building started in 1897 to the design of John Belcher in the Edwardian Baroque style, and was opened in 1902 by former
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
, the Earl of Rosebery. The building dominates the High Street and the 192-foot (58.5-metre) Victoria Tower is widely visible. The tower was intended to commemorate the
Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria was officially celebrated on 22 June 1897 to mark the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. Queen Victoria was the first British monarch ever to celebrate a Diamond ...
and was funded by a donation from
James Noah Paxman James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...
, the founder of Davey, Paxman & Co. It features four
allegorical figure Allegorical sculpture are sculptures of personifications of abstract ideas as in allegory. Common in the western world, for example, are statues of Lady Justice representing justice, traditionally holding scales and a sword, and the statues of Pru ...
s by
L J Watts L, or l, is the twelfth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''el'' (pronounced ), plural ''els''. History Lamedh ...
representing engineering, military defence, agriculture and fishery. At the top of the tower is a large bronze figure representing Saint Helena (the
patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of Colchester) holding the True Cross; a local story says that a councillor was dispatched to Italy to find a statue of the saint, but could only find one of the
Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...
, which then had to be modified locally.


Education


Secondary education

As is the case for the rest of Essex, Colchester's state schooling operates a two-tier system. Two of the city's secondary schools are selective, Colchester Royal Grammar School and
Colchester County High School for Girls Colchester County High School for Girls is a selective girls' grammar school with academy status in Colchester, Essex. The school consistently scores highly in the league tables for the UK. It was joint first in the country in the 2018 secondary ...
, the remainder being comprehensives. Comprehensive secondary schools include
The Gilberd School The Gilberd School is a coeducational secondary school with academy status, in Colchester, Essex, England. History The school originally opened on 12 July 1912 in buildings on North Hill, Colchester. During the 1930s the school became known a ...
,
Colchester Academy Colchester Academy, formerly Sir Charles Lucas Arts College, is a secondary school in Colchester, Essex specialising in English and Health Sciences. It opened on 6 September 2010. Description Colchester Academy opened in September 2010 in the e ...
,
Philip Morant School and College Philip Morant School and College (originally known as Norman Way School) is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status located within the Prettygate suburb of Colchester, Essex. The school is named after Philip Morant, a local 18t ...
, St Helena School,
St Benedict's Catholic College St Benedict's Catholic College is a coeducational secondary school in Colchester, Essex, England. As the only remaining Catholic secondary school in Colchester, It is one of the top performing non-selective state schools in Colchester. History ...
,
Thomas Lord Audley School Thomas Lord Audley School is a mixed 11–16 secondary school with academy status for 800 pupils, to the south of Colchester, Essex. It serves a wide catchment area, taking students from the edge of Colchester, small villages (such as Rowhedge ...
and the Paxman Academy.


Private schools

Private schools in Colchester include St. Mary's School and Colchester High School.


Tertiary

The University of Essex is located to the east of Colchester in Wivenhoe Park, in the civil parish of Wivenhoe. Other tertiary institutions include
Colchester Sixth Form College The Sixth Form College, Colchester is a sixth form college in Colchester, England. Established in 1987, it provides further education in the north Essex area. History The college is located on the former site of the Gilberd School. Recently con ...
and Colchester Institute.


Transport


Buses

Colchester's bus services are operated primarily by First Essex and Arriva Colchester, as well as by Hedingham & Chambers, Beeston's,
Ipswich Buses Ipswich BusesCompanies House extract company no 2000058
Ips ...
and Panther Travel (Essex). The bus station is located in Osborne Street, on the southern edge of the city centre. Key routes include the 71 to
Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...
and the 74 to Clacton-on-Sea.


Railway

Colchester railway station Colchester railway station (also known as Colchester North) is on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) in the East of England, and is the primary station serving the city of Colchester, Essex. Its three-letter station code is COL. It is down the ...
is located on the
Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and t ...
, which is operated by Abellio Greater Anglia. There are regular direct services to
London Liverpool Street Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...
,
Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...
, Clacton, Walton-on-the-Naze,
Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...
and
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
. There are also trains to the city's secondary station, Colchester Town, and Hythe station which serve the
Sunshine Coast Line The Sunshine Coast Line is the current marketing name of what originally was the Tendring Hundred Railway Line, a branch off the Great Eastern Main Line in the East of England. It links to the seaside resorts of and, via a branch, . The line ...
.


Roads

Colchester is linked directly to east London and
East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
by the A12, which is the region's main trunk route.


References in literature

The
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
historian
Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...
mentions Colchester (Camulodunum) in ''The Annals of Imperial Rome''. In Book XIV he describes how '...the Roman ex-soldiers...had recently established a settlement at Camulodunum', later burned down in the Iceni rebellion. It is the only town in Britain to have been explicitly mentioned in
George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...
's novel '' Nineteen Eighty-Four'' as being the target of a
nuclear attack Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear wa ...
. The (fictional) Atomic Wars took place during the 1950s. Colchester is the only town that was specifically mentioned as being bombed, but the book does say that many cities were destroyed in North America, Europe, and Russia.


In popular culture

Colchester is reputed to be the home of three of the best known English nursery rhymes: '
Old King Cole "Old King Cole" is a British nursery rhyme first attested in 1708. Though there is much speculation about the identity of King Cole, it is unlikely that he can be identified reliably as any historical figure. It has a Roud Folk Song Index numbe ...
', ' Humpty Dumpty' and '
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is a popular English lullaby. The lyrics are from an early-19th-century English poem written by Jane Taylor (poet), Jane Taylor, "The Star". The poem, which is in couplet form, was first published in 1806 in ''Rhym ...
', although the legitimacy of all three claims is disputed. Local legend places Colchester as the seat of
King Cole Coel (Old Welsh: ''Coil''), also called ''Coel Hen'' (Coel the Old) and King Cole, is a figure prominent in Welsh literature and legend since the Middle Ages. Early Welsh tradition knew of a Coel Hen, a 4th-century leader in Roman or Sub-Roman ...
(or Coel) of the rhyme ''Old King Cole'', a legendary ancient king of Britain. The name Colchester is from
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
: the place-name suffixes ''chester'', ''cester'', and ''caster'' derive from the Latin word '' castrum'' (fortified place). In folk etymology the name Colchester was thought of as meaning Cole's Castle , though this theory does not have academic support. In the legend Helena, the daughter of Cole, married the
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
Constantius Chlorus Flavius Valerius Constantius "Chlorus" ( – 25 July 306), also called Constantius I, was Roman emperor from 305 to 306. He was one of the four original members of the Tetrarchy established by Diocletian, first serving as caesar from 293 t ...
, who had been sent by Rome as an ambassador and was named as Cole's successor. Helena's son became Emperor
Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...
. Helena was canonised as
Saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
Helena of Constantinople Flavia Julia Helena ''Augusta'' (also known as Saint Helena and Helena of Constantinople, ; grc-gre, Ἑλένη, ''Helénē''; AD 246/248– c. 330) was an '' Augusta'' and Empress of the Roman Empire and mother of Emperor Constantine th ...
and is credited with finding the
true cross The True Cross is the cross upon which Jesus was said to have been crucified, particularly as an object of religious veneration. There are no early accounts that the apostles or early Christians preserved the physical cross themselves, althoug ...
and the remains of
the Magi The biblical Magi from Middle Persian ''moɣ''(''mard'') from Old Persian ''magu-'' 'Zoroastrian clergyman' ( or ; singular: ), also referred to as the (Three) Wise Men or (Three) Kings, also the Three Magi were distinguished foreigners in the G ...
. She is now the patron saint of Colchester. This is recognised in the emblem of Colchester: a cross and three crowns. The Mayor's medallion contains a Byzantine style icon of Saint Helena. A local secondary school – St Helena's – is named after her, and her statue is atop the town hall, although local legend is that it was originally a statue of Blessed Virgin Mary which was later fitted with a cross. Colchester is a widely credited source of the rhyme Humpty Dumpty. During the siege of Colchester in the Civil War, a Royalist sniper known as One-Eyed Thompson sat in the belfry of the church of St Mary-at-the-Walls (''Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall'') and was given the nickname Humpty Dumpty, most likely because of his size, ''Humpty Dumpty'' being a common insult for the overweight. Thompson was shot down (''Humpty Dumpty had a great fall'') and, shortly after, the town was lost to the Parliamentarians (''all the king's horses and all the king's men / couldn't put Humpty together again.'') Another version says that Humpty Dumpty was a cannon on the top of the church. The church of St Mary-at-the-Walls still retains its Norman tower until the top few feet, which are a Georgian repair. The third rhyme said to have come from Colchester is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which was written by Jane Taylor who lived in the city's Dutch Quarter, and published in 1806 with the title "The Star". Colchester has also been suggested as one of the potential sites of
Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the ...
, on account of having been the capital of Roman Britain and its ancient name of ''Camulodunum'': this is not considered likely by academics, as in Arthurian times Colchester was under Saxon control. The first part of
Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...
's ''
Moll Flanders ''Moll Flanders'' is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1722. It purports to be the true account of the life of the eponymous Moll, detailing her exploits from birth until old age. By 1721, Defoe had become a recognised novelist, wit ...
'' was set in Colchester. Colchester was also a named line of
lathe A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, and turning, with tools that are applied to the workpiece to c ...
machinery. In the book Nineteen Eighty-Four Colchester was the scene of a nuclear detonation. The ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' episodes '' The Lodger'' and '' Closing Time'' are set in Colchester, although they were filmed in
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
. In the
Asterix ''Asterix'' or ''The Adventures of Asterix'' (french: Astérix or , "Asterix the Gaul") is a ''bande dessinée'' comic book series about a village of indomitable Gaulish warriors who adventure around the world and fight the Roman Republic, wi ...
comic book '' Asterix in Britain'' the Camulodunum rugby team wins a game against
Durovernum Durovernum Cantiacorum was a town and hillfort ( la, oppidum) in Roman Britain at the site of present-day Canterbury in Kent. It occupied a strategic location on Watling Street at the best local crossing of the Stour, which prompted a convergence ...
(Roman name for
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...
). The uniforms worn during the match in the book are similar to the modern kit of Colchester United. Colchester appears in the video game Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with the city recreated as it was in the early medieval period.


Colcestrians

People of note that have lived in Colchester include: * George Biddell Airy (1801–1892) – Astronomer Royal, attended Colchester Royal Grammar School 1814–1819 *
Cuthbert Alport Cuthbert James McCall Alport, Baron Alport, (22 March 1912 – 28 October 1998) was a Conservative Party politician, minister, and life peer. Early life "Cub" Alport was educated at Haileybury College, Haileybury, Hertfordshire, England, a ...
(1912–1998) – Cabinet Minister, High Commissioner to the
Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation or CAF, was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the Self-governing colony, self-governing British colony of Southe ...
,
High Steward of Colchester The High Steward of Colchester is a ceremonial office awarded by Colchester Borough Council, Essex, England. The High steward (civic), stewardship was established by royal charter of Charles I of England, Charles I dated 9 July 1635. The charter, ...
*Ken Aston (1915–2001) – football referee, responsible for many important developments in football refereeing *Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, Thomas Audley (1488–1544) – Lord Chancellor of England 1533–44, founder of Magdalene College, Cambridge *John Ball (priest), John Ball (died 1381) – leader of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 *Thomas Miller Beach aka Henri Le Caron (1841-1894) - spy, who did much to thwart the objectives of the Fenian Brotherhood, Fenians *John Beche (died 1539) – last abbot of St John's Abbey, Colchester *Crispin Bonham-Carter (born 1969) – actor and theatre director *Ali Carter (born 1979) – professional snooker player *Graham Coxon (born 1969) – musician and Blur (band), Blur lead guitarist *Stella Creasy (born 1977) - MP for Walthamstow, went to school in Colchester *
Cunobelin Cunobeline (or Cunobelin, from Latin , derived from Common Brittonic ''*Cunobelinos'' "Strong as a Dog", "Strong Dog") was a king in pre-Roman Britain from about AD 9 until about AD 40.Malcolm Todd (2004)"Cunobelinus_[Cymbeline/nowiki>_(d._''c' ...
(died before 43 AD) – King of the Britons *Darren Day (born 1968) – actor and television presenter *
Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...
(1660–1731) – trader, writer, journalist, pamphleteer and spy, most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe *Eudo Dapifer (died 1120) – oversaw the building of Colchester Castle and was its first steward *Ben Foakes (born 1993) - cricketer *Neil Foster (born 1962) – cricketer *William Gilbert (astronomer), William Gilbert (1544–1603) – scientist, pioneer in the field of magnetism and court physician to Elizabeth I and James I of England, James I *Sir William Gull, 1st Baronet, William Gull (1816–1890) – Physician-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria; Governor of Guy's Hospital; researched and named anorexia nervosa *William Hale (British inventor), William Hale (1797–1870) – early rocket engineer *Samuel Harsnett (1561–1631) – writer and Archbishop of York *Hermann Arthur Jahn (1907–1979) - scientist, discovered the Jahn-Teller effect *Helen Mary Jones (Born 1960) - Member of the Welsh Senedd (1993 to 2011 and 2018–2021) *Klaus Kinski (1926–1991) – actor, director, former German POW in Colchester during the World War II *
Charles Lucas Sir Charles Lucas, 1613 to 28 August 1648, was a professional soldier from Essex, who served as a Cavalier, Royalist cavalry leader during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Taken prisoner at the end of the First English Civil War in March 1646, ...
(1613–1648) – Royalist soldier in the English Civil War and
Siege of Colchester The siege of Colchester occurred in the summer of 1648 when the English Civil War reignited in several areas of Britain. Colchester found itself in the thick of the unrest when a Royalist army on its way through East Anglia to raise suppor ...
*Alfred Lungley (1905–1989) – awarded the George Cross after the 1935 Balochistan earthquake, Quetta earthquake of 1935 *Bernard Mason (1895–1981) – businessman, philanthropist, clock collector *Philip Morant (1700–1770) – parish priest of Colchester churches#St Mary-at-the-Walls, St Mary-at-the-Walls, author of ''The History & Antiquities of the County of Essex'' *Chris Morris (satirist), Chris Morris (born 1962), English satirical comedian, writer, and director *Dermot O'Leary (born 1972) - English broadcaster and presenter *Roger Penrose (born 1931) – mathematical physicist and philosopher *Sam Pilgrim (born 1990) – freeride mountain biker *Dave Rowntree (born 1964) – musician, drummer for Blur (band), Blur *Anne Schwegmann-Fielding (born 1967) – sculptor and mosaic artist *Jeremy Spake (born 1969) – TV personality and presenter *Charles Spurgeon (1834–1892) – Particular Baptist preacher, known as the "Prince of Preachers" * Jane Taylor (1783–1824) – poet and author of the lyrics to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star *Gerald Templer (1898–1979) – British army officer *Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) – Prime Minister *Archibald Wavell (1883–1950) – senior officer of the British Army and the penultimate Viceroy of India *Mary Whitehouse (1910–2001) – Christian morality campaigner *Laming Worthington-Evans (1868–1931) – Secretary of State for War, Postmaster General


Twin towns

Colchester's town twinning, twin towns are: * Wetzlar, Germany, since 1969 * Avignon, France, since 1972 * Imola, Italy, since 1997 * Yangzhou, China, since 2015


See also

*Colchester (borough)#Demographics, Statistics of Colchester *Coat of arms of Colchester *Geography of the United Kingdom#Geology *List of natural disasters in the United Kingdom and preceding states *Military history of the United Kingdom during World War II *Colchester churches *Church of St Leonard at the Hythe, Colchester *Colchester power station


Notes


References


External links


Colchester Borough Council
{{Authority control Colchester (town), Towns in Essex Cities in the East of England Coloniae (Roman) Former national capitals Market towns in Essex Ports and harbours of Essex Trading posts of the Hanseatic League Unparished areas in Essex Roman legionary fortresses in England Former civil parishes in Essex