Britain’s oldest recorded town

Another weekend, another adventure to a part of the UK that I have not seen before. Today’s trip brought me to Colchester in Essex, which is Britain’s oldest recorded town (thanks to a reference from Pliny the Elder in AD 77); the first capital of Roman Britain; and newest city (city status having been granted in 2022). Strictly speaking, I have been here before, around twenty years ago, visiting a friend at his family’s turkey processing plant, but as I never saw anything of the city I think we can say this doesn’t count!

Colchester was originally known as Camulodunum in the iron age and well established enough that coins were minted with its name. The city was the main target of the Roman invasion in AD 43, led in its final stages by Emperor Claudius. However, the city was poorly defended, effectively little more than a retirement colony for former soldiers, making it an easy target for Queen Boudica and the Iceni in AD 60. The Iceni razed the city to the ground and slaughtered all the inhabitants, but a determined Roman force later re-built the town.

Model of the Temple of Claudius at Colchester Castle

The most famous building in Roman Britain was the Temple of Claudius, built to commemorate the emperor after his death. It was destroyed in the revolt and subsequently re-built. After the Roman Empire crumbled the temple was abandoned for centuries, but the Normans realised that they could re-use the foundations of the temple for their new castle in Colchester – one of many ordered built by William the Conqueror. The choice of location had a second purpose, providing a subtle hint of the line of authority that William was inheriting from the Romans.

Today, you can visit the castle and marvel at the rich history of the city (for the somewhat pricey fee of £12.50 per adult) which unsurprisingly contains some choice Roman finds.

Highlights include the creepy Colchester Sphinx, recovered from an elaborate Roman tomb; a particularly fine Roman bronze statue of Mercury found at Gosbecks; the Fenwick Treasure, a hoard of Roman coins and jewellery buried beneath a house thought to have been destroyed by fire during the Boudican revolt; and the tombstone of Marcus Favonius Facilis, the earliest Roman sculpture from Britain. Beyond the Roman era there was also a particularly lovely 13th century aquamanile water jug in the shape of a ram, found at St John’s Green.

Besides the main exhibition space, you can visit a display focusing on the castles use as county gaol from 1226 until 1835. This is appropriately located in the 1787 prison extension.

Colchester Castle

Time your visit right and you can take a guided tour (at additional cost) to the vaults, where you can see the re-used Roman foundations; walk up the great stairs, apparently the largest spiral staircase in a medieval castle; and get some rooftop views. Sadly, I can’t vouch for this from personal experience as the tours stopped surprisingly early on the day I visited!

My visit to the castle was the main focus of my visit to Colchester, but it was far from the only sight I saw on my wanders. Other sights included the church from St Botolph’s Priory (1177) which has been in ruins since the the English civil war, having been caught in the crossfire during the siege of Colchester in 1648; St John’s Gatehouse, an unusual building decorated in East Anglian ‘flintwork’, the last surviving building from the Benedictine abbey of St John; and the gorgeous clock atop the tower of St Peter’s church.

Nave of the Priory Church

Another highlight of my wanders around the town was the ‘Jumbo’ Water Tower, the largest remaining Victorian water tower in the country (completed in 1883, decommissioned in the 1980s). The tower cuts a striking sight, visible long before you get up close, standing at 40m tall with a tank that could hold 221,000 gallons of water. Apparently, some 1.2m bricks were used in the construction of the tower. Although closed to public access, a handy display board nearby provides a great cutaway drawing showing how a cast iron spiral stairway leads to the tower room (known as Wick’s Folly) at the top of the building.

Unexpected find of the day would have to be the series of concrete anti-tank blocks alongside the River Colne in the centre of town. A helpful display board nearby explains that these were part of a defensive line that ran through Castle Park, originally connected up by steel cables. These were aimed at preventing German forces from taking advantage of an easy crossing point in the event of an invasion through the flat landscape of Essex.

A special mention should also be made of the fantastic 1970s murals from the husband and wife team of Henry and Joyce Collins which can be found in the subways under Southway, depicting aspects of Colchester’s history, including an ear of corn from a coin minted by King Cunobelin; Emperor Claudius; a Roman galley; and shields celebrating the UK’s joining of the European Union. These were beautifully restored in 2017 and presented a wonderful surprise to a wanderer who had no idea of their existence until he stumbled across them. More murals, recovered from the BHS store before redevelopment, can be seen on a wall near Firstsite.

Some of the murals by Henry and Joyce Collins in the subways under Southway

My plans were not as well researched as usual, so I would just point out one embarrassing fact that momentarily threw me. There are two stations in Colchester, named Colchester (formerly Colchester North) and Colchester Town respectively. The latter is next door to St Botolph’s Priory and a short walk from the castle. Not that the main station of Colchester is far – it is only around a 20 minute walk from the centre of town.

I thoroughly enjoyed a wander around Colchester and delighted in the many other wonderful buildings and historical treats dotted around the city. I quite quickly realised that this was a city that I had unjustly overlooked for far too long and was glad to have corrected this error!

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