History of Colchester
Encyclopedia
Colchester
is a historic town located in Essex
, England
. It served as the first capital of Roman
Britain and makes a claim to be the oldest town in Britain
.
in England, existing as a Celt
ic settlement before the Roman
conquest. There is archaeological evidence of settlement 3,000 years ago. Its Celtic name was "Camulodunon", meaning "the Fortress of Camulos". (Camulos was the Celtic god of war.) This name was modified to the Roman spelling of "Camulodunum" (written "CAMVLODVNVM") and the town was developed as a major colonia
in the early stages of the conquest
of Roman Britain
, possibly with a view to its becoming the province's capital. It was sacked in the Boudican revolt, and though it recovered afterwards and lasted throughout the Roman occupation, its position as capital was assumed by Londinium.
in c.410 there is evidence of hasty re-organisation of Colchester's defences, including the blocking of the Balkerne Gate. Archaeological excavations have shown that public buildings were abandoned, although the 8th-century chronicler Nennius
mentioned the town, which he called Caer Colun, in his list of the 28 most important cities in Britain. The archaeologist Sir Mortimer Wheeler
was the first to propose that the lack of early Anglo-Saxon finds in a triangle between London, Colchester and Verulamium
(modern day St Albans
) could indicate a 'sub-Roman triangle' where British rule continued after the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons. It has been suggested that the name Camulodunum may have been rendered Camelot
and be the source of the legend of that city of Arthurian legend. The basis for this theory is pure conjecture but is supported by Colchester's historical position as the first capital of Britannia and the city could have retained a symbolic status in Romano-British kingship.
Since then however, excavations have revealed some early Saxon occupation, including a 5th-century wooden hut built on the ruins of a Roman house in present-day Lion Walk. However there is little other evidence of early Saxon occupation, as early Saxon settlers actively avoided living in most former Roman towns, although Colchester later resumed its natural position as the regional focus of trade routes, both along the old Roman road (which is now the A12) and up and down the River Colne and the Colne valley. An early Saxon poem The Ruin
although describing the ruins of Roman Bath gives an idea of what the early Saxon settlers would have seen at Colchester:
"This masonry is wondrous, fates broke it,
courtyard pavements were smashed; the work of giants is decaying.
Roofs are fallen, ruinous towers,
the frosty gate with frost on cement is ravaged,
chipped roofs are torn, fallen,
undermined by old age. The grasp of the earth possesses
the mighty builders, perished and fallen,
the hard grasp of earth, until a hundred generations
of people have departed. Often this wall,
lichen-grey and stained with red, experienced one reign after another,
remained standing under storms; the high wide gate has collapsed.
Still the masonry endures in winds cut down"
Following the founding of the Kingdom of Essex
, traditionally in 527 AD, Colchester became the major settlement of the kingdom along with London
. The Essex kings converted to Christianity in the 7th century and for a while the Kingdom was a major power in the south of England. By the mid of the 8th century the Kingdom was subordinate to the expansive Kingdom of Mercia
. By 825 the Kingdom was made a possession of the Kingdom of Wessex
.
The isolated raids by Vikings in the first half of the 9th century took a far more serious turn in 865 when a great army of Danes under the command of Ivar the Boneless
invaded the Kingdom of East Anglia. In 869 King Edmund of East Anglia was defeated and killed by the Danes and the east of England fell under Danish control. Under a peace treaty between Wessex and the Danes in 879, Colchester was incorporated in the Danelaw
. Norfolk and Suffolk were heavily settled by the Danes as can be traced by the density of Scandinavian place names. In Essex, Scandinavian place names, are only found near Colchester (Kirby-le-Soken
and Thorpe-le-Soken
) Colchester was an important base for the Danes as it had its Roman walls still largely intact and had access to the Colne estuary and the sea. The Kings of Wessex waged continual war on the Danes and finally Colchester was recaptured by English armies under Edward the Elder
in 921. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
states that Edward's army:
"Went to Colchester, and beset the town, and fought thereon till they took it, and slew all the people,and seized all that was therein; except those men who escaped therefrom over the wall."
.Following successful battles against the Viking armies, Edward returned to Colchester:
"After this, the same year, before Martinmas, went King Edward with the West-Saxon army to Colchester; and repaired and renewed the town, where it was broken down before."
In the later Saxon period, Colchester became an important port and a burh
, and apart from the High Street and Head Street which date from the Roman times, most of the old streets in Colchester come from this period. Colchester also became a mint in this time and an important part of the Kingdom of the English. The only Saxon building remaining in Colchester today, is the tower of Holy Trinity church which dates from around the first few decades of the 11th century. The church tower is built in the Romanesque
style. The lack of natural building stone around Colchester forced the inhabitants to either build in wood, or to reuse the stone and roof tiles from the remains of the Roman city. This can be seen most pronounced in Colchester Castle
but can be seen in all the medieval churches in Colchester.
is the borough's main medieval landmark. The surviving castle building is an 11th century Norman
keep
built in the same style as the Tower of London
. Few traces of the outer buildings, walls and bailey remain. The castle is built atop an old Roman temple
. The castle is surrounded by the landscaped Castle Park.
abbey
of St. John the Baptist
, generally known as "Colchester Abbey" or "St. John's Abbey," was a beautiful late 11th century church until the Dissolution of the Monasteries
and the execution of its abbot
in 1539. Now all that remains of it is its gateway, which is still a tourist attraction on St. John's Green and a small church with a wooden tower (St. Giles) which was built for the layworkers on the site.
The Augustinian priory
of St. Botolph, generally known as "St. Botolph's Priory", was also established in the 11th century. This adopted the Augustinian Order in around 1200 and became the mother church of the order in Britain. Today all that remains of the priory are ruins. The present church on the site is Victorian.
In addition, Colchester had eight other medieval (Norman) churches within the walls. These were St. Mary at the Walls, St. Martin's
, St. Runwald's, St. Nicholas, All Saints, Holy Trinity, St. James the Great, and St. Peter's.
by Richard I
. The charter was granted at Dover with the King about to embark on one of his many journeys away from England. The borough celebrated the 800th anniversary of its charter in 1989.
There were many other charters were granted by successive monarchs. The 1413 Charter granted by Henry V
is on display in the Castle Museum.
The 1189 charter granted the borough rights to the oyster fishery in the estuary
of the River Colne
.
, fleeing persecution, emigrated to Colchester and the surrounding areas where they were affectionately referred to as the 'Dutch'. They were famed for the production of Bays and Says cloth. 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.
Between 1796 to 1810 Jane Taylor
lived in East Stockwell Street of the Dutch Quarter, famous for writing the poem Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
.
when a large Royalist
army (led by Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle) entered the largely Parliamentarian (Roundhead)
town. They were hotly pursued from Kent
by a detachment of the New Model Army
led by Sir Thomas Fairfax, Henry Ireton
, and Thomas Rainsborough
. The Roundheads besieged the town for 76 days. By that time, many of the town's most ancient monuments like St. Mary's Church and the Gate of St. John's Abbey were partially destroyed and the inhabitants were reduced to eating candles and boots. When the Royalists surrendered in the late summer, Lucas and Lisle were shot in the grounds of Colchester Castle
. The spot is marked by an obelisk today and there is a myth that no grass will grow in this area (it has since been covered with tarmac to make sure.)
mentions in A tour through England and Wales that the town lost 5,259 people to the plague in 1665, "more in proportion than any of its neighbours, or than the city of London". By the time he wrote this in 1722, however, he estimated its population (including "out-villages") to have risen to around 40,000.
, estimated to have been 5.2 on the Richter Scale, and lasting for about 20 seconds. The quake was felt over much of southern England and into Europe, and over 1,200 buildings were destroyed or damaged.
The Times
for Wednesday, April 23 reported damage "in the many villages in the neighbourhood from Colchester to the sea coast", with many poor people made homeless, and estimated the financial cost of the quake at 10,000 pounds sterling
. Great damage was also reported in Wivenhoe
and Ipswich
, and buildings destroyed included Langenhoe
church. The death of a child at Rowhedge
was also reported.
A copy of the Report on the East Anglian Earthquake of April 22, 1884 can be found in the Colchester local library.
, Ostrea edulis) that are gathered from the Colne oyster fishery. The feast has its origins in the 14th Century and is held in the Moot Hall
.
in AD 43 following the Claudian invasion of Britain. Colchester was an important barracks during the Napoleonic Wars
and throughout the Victorian era
. During the First World War several battalions of Kitchener's Army
were trained there. Today, there are considerable plans to build a new and modern barracks out of the town to free up building land in the centre and replace the Victorian buildings. There are hopes that some of the original architecture will be conserved for heritage.
Sadly 3 soldiers who were serving in Afghanistan
, from Colchester's parachute regiment, were killed in a suicide attack in June 2008, thus bringing the number of troops killed in Afghanistan to 100.
A self-financed body of volunteers, the Watch is convened under the auspices of the Statutes of Winchester of 1253. This statute was introduced to provide for some sort of law and order, and created the first police force in the UK. Today's Watch, of course, are a purely ceremonial body, leaving law and order to the Essex Constabulary.
The Watch's livery is based on late Elizabethan dress, and is in the town colours of red and green. The Watch wear crested morions, back and breastplates, and carry either partizans or half-pikes when on duty. The Captain has the privilege of wearing Elizabethan "civvies".
A fine and colourful (in every sense) body of persons, the Watch provide a link with Colchester history at many civic events. Their day is, however, the Marching Watches. On the Saturday closest to the Vigil of St. John The Baptist, the watch "walk the walls" completing a circuit of Colchester's town wall (the oldest in Britain, with parts dating back to Roman times), a "beating the bounds" type ceremony, establishing the territory they protect. A distance of some 3 kilometers, it finishes in a local hostelry, The Foresters Arms, so that the Watch may refresh themselves. They are accompanied by Mayors past and present, such civic dignitaries as may wish to attend, and anyone else who cares to join in.
In 1925 Paxman produced its first spring injection oil engine and joined the English Electric Diesel Group in 1966 - later becoming part of the GEC Group. Since the 1930s the Paxman company's main business has been the production of diesel engines. Paxman engines are world famous. They are used in fast naval patrol craft, submarines, and high speed trains. At its peak, the Paxman works covered 23 acres (93,000 m²) and employed over 2,000 people.
Paxman became part of MAN B&W Diesel Ltd in 2000. In 2003 the company announced proposals to transfer manufacturing to Stockport
. Production was wound down, and what was to be the last production engine to be built in Colchester was completed on 15 September 2003. However, the Stockport plant proved unable to manufacture the popular VP185 efficiently, and thus in 2005, production resumed in Colchester.
Colchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
is a historic town located in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It served as the first capital of Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
Britain and makes a claim to be the oldest town in Britain
Oldest town in Britain
The Oldest town in Britain is a title claimed by a number of settlements in Great Britain.-Thatcham:Thatcham in Berkshire is often claimed as the oldest town in Britain, since its occupation can be traced back to a mesolithic hunting camp, which was discovered there beside a Post-glacial rebound...
.
Prehistoric and Roman era
Colchester lays claim to being the oldest recorded Roman townOldest town in Britain
The Oldest town in Britain is a title claimed by a number of settlements in Great Britain.-Thatcham:Thatcham in Berkshire is often claimed as the oldest town in Britain, since its occupation can be traced back to a mesolithic hunting camp, which was discovered there beside a Post-glacial rebound...
in England, existing as a Celt
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic settlement before the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
conquest. There is archaeological evidence of settlement 3,000 years ago. Its Celtic name was "Camulodunon", meaning "the Fortress of Camulos". (Camulos was the Celtic god of war.) This name was modified to the Roman spelling of "Camulodunum" (written "CAMVLODVNVM") and the town was developed as a major colonia
Colonia (Roman)
A Roman colonia was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of Roman city.-History:...
in the early stages of the conquest
Roman conquest of Britain
The Roman conquest of Britain was a gradual process, beginning effectively in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, whose general Aulus Plautius served as first governor of Britannia. Great Britain had already frequently been the target of invasions, planned and actual, by forces of the Roman Republic and...
of Roman Britain
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
, possibly with a view to its becoming the province's capital. It was sacked in the Boudican revolt, and though it recovered afterwards and lasted throughout the Roman occupation, its position as capital was assumed by Londinium.
Saxon and Viking era
Around the time of the final withdrawal of Roman armies from BritanniaBritannia
Britannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a female personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain. However, by the...
in c.410 there is evidence of hasty re-organisation of Colchester's defences, including the blocking of the Balkerne Gate. Archaeological excavations have shown that public buildings were abandoned, although the 8th-century chronicler Nennius
Nennius
Nennius 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 a secondary tradition....
mentioned the town, which he called Caer Colun, in his list of the 28 most important cities in Britain. The archaeologist Sir Mortimer Wheeler
Mortimer Wheeler
Brigadier Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler CH, CIE, MC, FBA, FSA , was one of the best-known British archaeologists of the twentieth century.-Education and career:...
was the first to propose that the lack of early Anglo-Saxon finds in a triangle between London, Colchester and Verulamium
Verulamium
Verulamium was an ancient town in Roman Britain. It was sited in the southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, Great Britain. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon...
(modern day St Albans
St Albans
St Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. It is a historic market town, and is now a sought-after dormitory town within the London commuter belt...
) could indicate a 'sub-Roman triangle' where British rule continued after the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons. It has been suggested that the name Camulodunum may have been rendered Camelot
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 eventually came to be described as the fantastic capital of Arthur's realm and a symbol of the Arthurian world...
and be the source of the legend of that city of Arthurian legend. The basis for this theory is pure conjecture but is supported by Colchester's historical position as the first capital of Britannia and the city could have retained a symbolic status in Romano-British kingship.
Since then however, excavations have revealed some early Saxon occupation, including a 5th-century wooden hut built on the ruins of a Roman house in present-day Lion Walk. However there is little other evidence of early Saxon occupation, as early Saxon settlers actively avoided living in most former Roman towns, although Colchester later resumed its natural position as the regional focus of trade routes, both along the old Roman road (which is now the A12) and up and down the River Colne and the Colne valley. An early Saxon poem The Ruin
The Ruin
"The Ruin" is an 8th-century Old English poem from the Exeter Book by an unknown author. The Exeter Book is a large book of mostly Christian verse, which contains about one-third of the extant Old English poems...
although describing the ruins of Roman Bath gives an idea of what the early Saxon settlers would have seen at Colchester:
"This masonry is wondrous, fates broke it,
courtyard pavements were smashed; the work of giants is decaying.
Roofs are fallen, ruinous towers,
the frosty gate with frost on cement is ravaged,
chipped roofs are torn, fallen,
undermined by old age. The grasp of the earth possesses
the mighty builders, perished and fallen,
the hard grasp of earth, until a hundred generations
of people have departed. Often this wall,
lichen-grey and stained with red, experienced one reign after another,
remained standing under storms; the high wide gate has collapsed.
Still the masonry endures in winds cut down"
Following the founding of the Kingdom of Essex
Kingdom of Essex
The Kingdom of Essex or Kingdom of the East Saxons was one of the seven traditional kingdoms of the so-called Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was founded in the 6th century and covered the territory later occupied by the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Middlesex and Kent. Kings of Essex were...
, traditionally in 527 AD, Colchester became the major settlement of the kingdom along with London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The Essex kings converted to Christianity in the 7th century and for a while the Kingdom was a major power in the south of England. By the mid of the 8th century the Kingdom was subordinate to the expansive Kingdom of Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
. By 825 the Kingdom was made a possession of the Kingdom of Wessex
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
.
The isolated raids by Vikings in the first half of the 9th century took a far more serious turn in 865 when a great army of Danes under the command of Ivar the Boneless
Ivar the Boneless
Ivar Ragnarsson nicknamed the Boneless , was a Viking leader and by reputation also a berserker. By the late 11th century he was known as a son of the powerful Ragnar Lodbrok, ruler of an area probably comprising parts of modern-day Denmark and Sweden.-Invader:In the autumn of AD 865, with his...
invaded the Kingdom of East Anglia. In 869 King Edmund of East Anglia was defeated and killed by the Danes and the east of England fell under Danish control. Under a peace treaty between Wessex and the Danes in 879, Colchester was incorporated in the Danelaw
Danelaw
The Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , is a historical name given to the part of England in which the laws of the "Danes" held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. It is contrasted with "West Saxon law" and "Mercian law". The term has been extended by modern historians to...
. Norfolk and Suffolk were heavily settled by the Danes as can be traced by the density of Scandinavian place names. In Essex, Scandinavian place names, are only found near Colchester (Kirby-le-Soken
Kirby-le-Soken
Kirby-le-Soken is a small village in the Tendring District of North East Essex, England, in an agricultural and increasingly residential corner of the county. Although the village has managed to stay distinct and separate from the growing conurbations of Frinton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze , it...
and Thorpe-le-Soken
Thorpe-le-Soken
Thorpe-le-Soken is a village in Essex, located west of Walton-on-the-Naze, Frinton-on-Sea and north of Clacton-on-Sea.-History:Thorpe-le-Soken's history can be traced back to Saxon times....
) Colchester was an important base for the Danes as it had its Roman walls still largely intact and had access to the Colne estuary and the sea. The Kings of Wessex waged continual war on the Danes and finally Colchester was recaptured by English armies under Edward the Elder
Edward the Elder
Edward the Elder was an English king. He became king in 899 upon the death of his father, Alfred the Great. His court was at Winchester, previously the capital of Wessex...
in 921. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
states that Edward's army:
"Went to Colchester, and beset the town, and fought thereon till they took it, and slew all the people,and seized all that was therein; except those men who escaped therefrom over the wall."
.Following successful battles against the Viking armies, Edward returned to Colchester:
"After this, the same year, before Martinmas, went King Edward with the West-Saxon army to Colchester; and repaired and renewed the town, where it was broken down before."
In the later Saxon period, Colchester became an important port and a burh
Burh
A Burh is an Old English name for a fortified town or other defended site, sometimes centred upon a hill fort though always intended as a place of permanent settlement, its origin was in military defence; "it represented only a stage, though a vitally important one, in the evolution of the...
, and apart from the High Street and Head Street which date from the Roman times, most of the old streets in Colchester come from this period. Colchester also became a mint in this time and an important part of the Kingdom of the English. The only Saxon building remaining in Colchester today, is the tower of Holy Trinity church which dates from around the first few decades of the 11th century. The church tower is built in the Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
style. The lack of natural building stone around Colchester forced the inhabitants to either build in wood, or to reuse the stone and roof tiles from the remains of the Roman city. This can be seen most pronounced in Colchester Castle
Colchester Castle
Colchester Castle in Colchester, Essex is an example of a largely complete Norman castle. It is a Grade I listed building.-Construction:At one and a half times the size of the Tower of London's White Tower, Colchester's keep is the largest ever built in Britain and the largest surviving example in...
but can be seen in all the medieval churches in Colchester.
Medieval era
Colchester Castle
Colchester CastleColchester Castle
Colchester Castle in Colchester, Essex is an example of a largely complete Norman castle. It is a Grade I listed building.-Construction:At one and a half times the size of the Tower of London's White Tower, Colchester's keep is the largest ever built in Britain and the largest surviving example in...
is the borough's main medieval landmark. The surviving castle building is an 11th century Norman
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
keep
Keep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
built in the same style as the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
. Few traces of the outer buildings, walls and bailey remain. The castle is built atop an old Roman temple
Roman temple
Ancient Roman temples are among the most visible archaeological remains of Roman culture, and are a significant source for Roman architecture. Their construction and maintenance was a major part of ancient Roman religion. The main room housed the cult image of the deity to whom the temple was...
. The castle is surrounded by the landscaped Castle Park.
Medieval Churches
The BenedictineBenedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
abbey
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
of St. John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
, generally known as "Colchester Abbey" or "St. John's Abbey," was a beautiful late 11th century church until the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
and the execution of its abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
in 1539. Now all that remains of it is its gateway, which is still a tourist attraction on St. John's Green and a small church with a wooden tower (St. Giles) which was built for the layworkers on the site.
The Augustinian priory
Priory
A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...
of St. Botolph, generally known as "St. Botolph's Priory", was also established in the 11th century. This adopted the Augustinian Order in around 1200 and became the mother church of the order in Britain. Today all that remains of the priory are ruins. The present church on the site is Victorian.
In addition, Colchester had eight other medieval (Norman) churches within the walls. These were St. Mary at the Walls, St. Martin's
St Martin's Church, Colchester
St Martin's Church, Colchester, is a redundant Anglican church in the town of Colchester, Essex, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust...
, St. Runwald's, St. Nicholas, All Saints, Holy Trinity, St. James the Great, and St. Peter's.
Royal charter
In 1189, Colchester - was granted its first English Royal CharterRoyal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
by Richard I
Richard I of England
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
. The charter was granted at Dover with the King about to embark on one of his many journeys away from England. The borough celebrated the 800th anniversary of its charter in 1989.
There were many other charters were granted by successive monarchs. The 1413 Charter granted by Henry V
Henry V of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
is on display in the Castle Museum.
The 1189 charter granted the borough rights to the oyster fishery in the estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
of the River Colne
River Colne, Essex
The River Colne is a small river that runs through Colchester, England. It is not a tributary of any other river, instead having an estuary that joins the sea near Brightlingsea.-Source:...
.
Dutch Quarter
Between 1550 and 1600, a large number of Protestant weavers and clothmakers from FlandersFlanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
, fleeing persecution, emigrated to Colchester and the surrounding areas where they were affectionately referred to as the 'Dutch'. They were famed for the production of Bays and Says cloth. An area in Colchester town centre is still known as the Dutch Quarter and many buildings there date from the Tudor
Tudor dynasty
The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor was a European royal house of Welsh origin that ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms, including the Lordship of Ireland, later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch was Henry Tudor, a descendant through his mother of a legitimised...
period. During this period Colchester was one of the most prosperous wool towns in England.
Between 1796 to 1810 Jane Taylor
Jane Taylor (poet)
Jane Taylor , was an English poet and novelist. She wrote the words for the song Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star in 1806 at age 23, while living in Shilling Street, Lavenham, Suffolk....
lived in East Stockwell Street of the Dutch Quarter, famous for writing the poem Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is a popular English nursery rhyme. The lyrics are from an early nineteenth-century English poem, "The Star" by Jane Taylor. The poem, which is in couplet form, was first published in 1806 in Rhymes for the Nursery, a collection of poems by Taylor and her sister Ann...
.
Siege of Colchester
In 1648, Colchester was thrown into the thick of the Second English Civil WarSecond English Civil War
The Second English Civil War was the second of three wars known as the English Civil War which refers to the series of armed conflicts and political machinations which took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1652 and also include the First English Civil War and the...
when a large Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
army (led by Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle) entered the largely Parliamentarian (Roundhead)
Roundhead
"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
town. They were hotly pursued from Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
by a detachment of the New Model Army
New Model Army
The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration...
led by Sir Thomas Fairfax, Henry Ireton
Henry Ireton
Henry Ireton was an English general in the Parliamentary army during the English Civil War. He was the son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell.-Early life:...
, and Thomas Rainsborough
Thomas Rainsborough
Thomas Rainsborough , or Rainborough or Raineborough or Rainborowe or Rainbow or Rainborow, was a prominent figure in the English Civil War, and was the leading spokesman of the Levellers in the Putney Debates.-Life:He was the son of William Rainsborough, a captain and Vice-Admiral in the Royal...
. The Roundheads besieged the town for 76 days. By that time, many of the town's most ancient monuments like St. Mary's Church and the Gate of St. John's Abbey were partially destroyed and the inhabitants were reduced to eating candles and boots. When the Royalists surrendered in the late summer, Lucas and Lisle were shot in the grounds of Colchester Castle
Colchester Castle
Colchester Castle in Colchester, Essex is an example of a largely complete Norman castle. It is a Grade I listed building.-Construction:At one and a half times the size of the Tower of London's White Tower, Colchester's keep is the largest ever built in Britain and the largest surviving example in...
. The spot is marked by an obelisk today and there is a myth that no grass will grow in this area (it has since been covered with tarmac to make sure.)
Plague
Daniel DefoeDaniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
mentions in A tour through England and Wales that the town lost 5,259 people to the plague in 1665, "more in proportion than any of its neighbours, or than the city of London". By the time he wrote this in 1722, however, he estimated its population (including "out-villages") to have risen to around 40,000.
Colchester earthquake
At around 9:20 in the morning of April 22, 1884, the Colchester area was at the epicentre of the UK's most destructive earthquakeEarthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
, estimated to have been 5.2 on the Richter Scale, and lasting for about 20 seconds. The quake was felt over much of southern England and into Europe, and over 1,200 buildings were destroyed or damaged.
The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
for Wednesday, April 23 reported damage "in the many villages in the neighbourhood from Colchester to the sea coast", with many poor people made homeless, and estimated the financial cost of the quake at 10,000 pounds sterling
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
. Great damage was also reported in Wivenhoe
Wivenhoe
Wivenhoe is a town in north eastern Essex, England, approximately south east of Colchester. Historically Wivenhoe village, on the banks of the River Colne, and Wivenhoe Cross, on the higher ground to the north, were two separate settlements but with considerable development in the 19th century the...
and Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
, and buildings destroyed included Langenhoe
Langenhoe
Langenhoe is a village in the Colchester district of Essex, England to the south of Colchester. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 536.The village church was once reputed to be amongst the most haunted buildings in Essex...
church. The death of a child at Rowhedge
Rowhedge
Rowhedge is a village in Essex.Formerly in the parish of East Donyland, it is now a ward of Colchester Borough Council. It is on the south bank of the River Colne and is the first settlement downstream, about 4 km from Colchester. Wivenhoe is on the opposite bank and Fingringhoe is about...
was also reported.
A copy of the Report on the East Anglian Earthquake of April 22, 1884 can be found in the Colchester local library.
Oyster Feast
The Oyster Feast is the centrepiece of the Colchester's annual civic calendar. The feast celebrates the "Colchester Natives" (the native oysterOyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
, Ostrea edulis) that are gathered from the Colne oyster fishery. The feast has its origins in the 14th Century and is held in the Moot Hall
Moot hall
A moot hall is meeting or assembly building, traditionally to decide local issues.In Anglo-Saxon England, a low ring-shaped earthwork served as a moot hill or moot mound, where the elders of the hundred would meet to take decisions. Some of these acquired permanent buildings, known as moot halls...
.
Colchester Army Garrison
The Colchester Garrison has been an important military base since the Roman era. The first permanent military garrison in Colchester was established by the Legio XX Valeria VictrixLegio XX Valeria Victrix
Legio vigesima Valeria Victrix was a Roman legion, probably raised by Augustus some time after 31 BC. It served in Hispania, Illyricum, and Germania before participating in the invasion of Britannia in 43 AD, where it remained and was active until at least the beginning of the 4th century...
in AD 43 following the Claudian invasion of Britain. Colchester was an important barracks during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
and throughout the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
. During the First World War several battalions of Kitchener's Army
Kitchener's Army
The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, Kitchener's Mob, was an all-volunteer army formed in the United Kingdom following the outbreak of hostilities in the First World War...
were trained there. Today, there are considerable plans to build a new and modern barracks out of the town to free up building land in the centre and replace the Victorian buildings. There are hopes that some of the original architecture will be conserved for heritage.
Sadly 3 soldiers who were serving in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, from Colchester's parachute regiment, were killed in a suicide attack in June 2008, thus bringing the number of troops killed in Afghanistan to 100.
Colchester Town Watch
Colchester Town Watch was founded in 2001 to provide a ceremonial guard for the mayor of Colchester and for the town for civic events.A self-financed body of volunteers, the Watch is convened under the auspices of the Statutes of Winchester of 1253. This statute was introduced to provide for some sort of law and order, and created the first police force in the UK. Today's Watch, of course, are a purely ceremonial body, leaving law and order to the Essex Constabulary.
The Watch's livery is based on late Elizabethan dress, and is in the town colours of red and green. The Watch wear crested morions, back and breastplates, and carry either partizans or half-pikes when on duty. The Captain has the privilege of wearing Elizabethan "civvies".
A fine and colourful (in every sense) body of persons, the Watch provide a link with Colchester history at many civic events. Their day is, however, the Marching Watches. On the Saturday closest to the Vigil of St. John The Baptist, the watch "walk the walls" completing a circuit of Colchester's town wall (the oldest in Britain, with parts dating back to Roman times), a "beating the bounds" type ceremony, establishing the territory they protect. A distance of some 3 kilometers, it finishes in a local hostelry, The Foresters Arms, so that the Watch may refresh themselves. They are accompanied by Mayors past and present, such civic dignitaries as may wish to attend, and anyone else who cares to join in.
Colchester Co-op
The Colchester and East Essex Co-operative Society was founded in 1861. Today the society is the largest independent retail chain in the region with a net asset value of £65 million.Paxman diesels
The Paxman diesels 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 at a location in the town centre. In 1876 James Paxman obtained a site on Hythe Hill and the company moved to the "New" Standard Ironworks.In 1925 Paxman produced its first spring injection oil engine and joined the English Electric Diesel Group in 1966 - later becoming part of the GEC Group. Since the 1930s the Paxman company's main business has been the production of diesel engines. Paxman engines are world famous. They are used in fast naval patrol craft, submarines, and high speed trains. At its peak, the Paxman works covered 23 acres (93,000 m²) and employed over 2,000 people.
Paxman became part of MAN B&W Diesel Ltd in 2000. In 2003 the company announced proposals to transfer manufacturing to Stockport
Stockport
Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...
. Production was wound down, and what was to be the last production engine to be built in Colchester was completed on 15 September 2003. However, the Stockport plant proved unable to manufacture the popular VP185 efficiently, and thus in 2005, production resumed in Colchester.