Colchester
Colchester (/ˈkoʊltʃɛstər/ ⓘ[2] KOHL-cheh-stər) is a city[a] in northeastern Essex, England.[3][4][b] It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 Census.[1] The demonym is Colcestrian.[5]
For other uses, see Colchester (disambiguation).
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colchester therefore claims to be Britain's first city.[6][7] It has been an important military base since the Roman era, with Colchester Garrison currently housing the 16th Air Assault Brigade.
On the River Colne,[8] Colchester is 50 miles (80 kilometres) northeast of London. It is connected to London by the A12 road and the Great Eastern Main Line railway.[9] Colchester is less than 30 miles (50 km) from London Stansted Airport and 20 miles (30 km) from the port of Harwich.
Attractions in and around the city include St Botolph's Priory, Colchester Zoo, and several art galleries. Colchester Castle 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 between Colchester and Wivenhoe. Local government is the responsibility of the City of Colchester and Essex County Council.
Name[edit]
There are several theories about the origin of the name Colchester. Some contend that is derived from the Latin words colonia (referring to a type of Roman 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, meaning fortifications (referring to the city walls, the oldest in Britain).[10][11] 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.[10] In this way of interpreting the name, the River Colne which runs through the area takes its name from Colonia as well.[10] Cologne (German Köln) also gained its name from a similar etymology (from its Roman name Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium).[11]
Other etymologists are confident that the Colne's name is pre-Roman, 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 [Latin] 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."[12]
The popular association of the name with King Coel has no academic merit.
Bays Regulation (Colchester) Act 1660
An Act for the regulating of the Trade of Bay-making, in the Dutch Bay Hall, in Colchester.
12 Cha. 2. c. 7
13 September 1660
Culture[edit]
Museums[edit]
Colchester houses several museums. The Castle Museum, found within Colchester Castle, features an extensive exhibit on Roman Colchester. Nearby are Hollytrees Museum, a social history museum with children's exhibits in the former home of Charles Gray, and the 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.[68] 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.[69]
Landmarks[edit]
Colchester War Memorial[edit]
Colchester suffered in the First World War, losing some 1,248 in the conflict.[80] As early as 1918 prominent voices 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.[81] The committee formed to choose a proposal decided on a sculptural monument on 16 May 1919 with a vote of 7 to 9.[82] Following a visit to the Royal Academy's War Memorial Exhibition,[83] the sculptor Henry Charles Fehr was chosen to undertake the work, for which he was paid £3,000.[84] The memorial consists of three human figures on a sculptural pedestal. The figures are of Saint George, an allegorical representation of peace and the goddess Nike.[83]
Education[edit]
Secondary education[edit]
As is the case for the rest of Essex, Colchester's state schooling operates a two-tier system. Two of the local secondary schools are selective, Colchester Royal Grammar School and Colchester County High School for Girls, the remainder being comprehensives. Comprehensive secondary schools include The Gilberd School, Colchester Academy, Philip Morant School and College, St Helena School, St Benedict's Catholic College, Thomas Lord Audley School and the Paxman Academy.
Private schools[edit]
Private schools in Colchester include St. Mary's School, Oxford House School and Colchester High School.
Tertiary[edit]
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 and Colchester Institute.
Transport[edit]
Buses[edit]
Colchester's bus services are operated primarily by First Essex and Arriva Colchester, as well as by Hedingham & Chambers, Beeston's, Ipswich Buses and Panther Travel (Essex). The bus station is located in Osborne Street, on the southern edge of the centre. Key routes include the 371 to Chelmsford and the 74 to Clacton-on-Sea.
Railway[edit]
Colchester Town and Hythe stations are on the Sunshine Coast Line operated by Greater Anglia, and linked to the rest of the network at Colchester North station, which lies just outside this area.
Roads[edit]
Colchester is linked to London and East Anglia by the A12, which bypasses the town to the north and east, and is the region's main trunk route. The A120 connects Colchester with Harwich in the east and Stansted Airport and the M11 motorway in the west.
Port[edit]
Colchester was historically a port, with a regular weekly shipping service to London by 1637, and about 3,000 vessels per year using the port in 1892.[91] The former quay of The Hythe is no longer in use, partly because the river has silted up, although Colchester is still a registered port (code GBCOL).[92][93]
References in literature[edit]
The Roman historian Tacitus 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.[94]
It is the only town in Britain to have been explicitly mentioned in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four as being the target of a nuclear attack during the (fictional) Atomic Wars of the 1950s.
People of note that have lived in Colchester include:
Colchester's twin towns and sister cities are:[114]