Prehistory The gravel hill upon which Colchester is built was formed in the
Middle Pleistocene period and was shaped into a
terrace between the
Anglian glaciation and the
Ipswichian glaciation by an ancient precursor to the
River Colne. From these deposits
Palaeolithic flint tools, including at least six
Acheulian handaxes, have been found. In the 1980s an archaeological inventory showed that over 800 shards of pottery from the
Neolithic,
Bronze Age and early
Iron Age have been found within Colchester, along with many examples of
worked flint.
Celtic origins . Colchester is said to be the
oldest recorded town in Britain on the grounds that it was mentioned by
Pliny the Elder, 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. 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. though the name
Camelot (first mentioned by the 12th century French Arthurian storyteller
Chrétien de Troyes) is most likely a corruption of
Camlann, a now unknown location first mentioned in the 10th century Welsh annalistic text
Annales Cambriae, identified as the place where Arthur was slain in battle.
Roman period Soon after the
Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43, a Roman legionary fortress was established, the first in Britain. the largest
classical-style temple in Britain, as well as at least seven other Romano-British temples. Colchester is home to two of the five
Roman theatres found in Britain; the example at Gosbecks (site of the
Iron Age royal farmstead) is the largest in
Britain, able to seat 5,000. Sometime after the destruction, London became the capital of the province of
Britannia. 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. 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".
Chariot Racing A
Roman circus was discovered in 2004 during archaeological investigations undertaken by Colchester Archaeological Trust prior to the redevelopment of Colchester Garrison, some 450m to the south of the walled part of the Roman town. Glass and pottery vessels decorated with scenes from chariot races had been discovered in the C19 and C20. Based on the foundations, it is estimated that the circus could accommodate around 8,000 spectators. Although dating evidence for the construction of the circus is limited and imprecise, it has been suggested that it was built in the AD C2; demolition may have started around the mid to late AD 270s. Excavation has also confirmed that the circus was surrounded by a contemporary cemetery from which 516 burials have recovered.
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. 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
St Albans 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, 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. 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 , completed c. 1100 AD Medieval Colchester's main landmark is
Colchester Castle, 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 abbey of St John the Baptist (known locally as "St John's Abbey"), and the ruins of the
Augustinian priory of
St Botolph (known locally as "
St Botolph's Priory"). 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 by King Richard I (
Richard the Lionheart), although the wording suggests that it was based on an earlier one. It granted Colchester's
burgesses the right to elect
bailiffs and a
justice. 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, particularly by immigration into the town. 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
bailiffs 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. They were famed for the production of "Bays and Says" cloths which were woven from
wool and are normally associated with
baize and
serge 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
oysters. The old Roman wall runs along Northgate Street in the Dutch Quarter. In the reign of
Mary I (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 and
George Lisle in 1648 The town saw the start of the
Stour Valley riots of 1642, when the town house of
John Lucas, 1st Baron Lucas of Shenfield was attacked by a large crowd. In 1648, during the
Second English Civil War, a
Royalist army led by
Lord Goring entered the town. A pursuing
Parliamentary army led by
Thomas Fairfax and
Henry Ireton surrounded the town for eleven and a half weeks, a period known as the
Siege of Colchester. 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 and
George Lisle were executed in the grounds of
Colchester Castle. A small obelisk marks the spot where they fell.
Daniel Defoe mentions in
A tour through England and Wales that the town lost 5259 people 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 Significant Victorian landmarks include
Colchester Town Hall, the
Jumbo Water Tower and the
Albert Hall. In 1884, the area was struck by the
Colchester earthquake, estimated to have been 4.7 on the
Richter Scale causing extensive regional damage. 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. 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 engines.
20th century and later In the early 20th century Colchester lobbied to be the seat for a new
Church of England diocese for
Essex, 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 hit by stray single German aircraft in 1940 and 1941, in 1942 more serious attempts to bomb its industries were made by the Luftwaffe. None of these attacks hit their targets, but a raid on 11 August bombed
Severalls Hospital and killed 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. The
University of Essex was established at Wivenhoe Park in 1961.In June 1998 the
Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority awarded Mr Mudd £819,000 in damages. 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 United Kingdom census, 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. On 20 May 2022, it was announced that as part of the
Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours, what was then the
Borough of Colchester would receive
city status. It was slated to receive the status formally by
letters patent on 12 September 2022, however following the
death of Queen Elizabeth II, 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. Colchester was visited by
King Charles III on 7 March 2023, in order to congratulate Colchester on receiving city status. ==Garrison ==