A Brief History of Colchester

In the late Iron Age, the peoples of southern Britain were split into a series of separate tribes or kingdoms. Each kingdom had a monarch or ruler. In Essex, the local people were known as the Trinovantes and they were often at war with the neghbouring tribe to the West, the Catuvellauni.

By 25BC the tribal capital of the Trinovantes had been established in the area of modern Colchester. It was called Camulodunum which translates as 'the Fotress of Camulos.' Camulos was a Celtic god of war. Camulodunum covered an area of 32 square kilometeres (12 sq miles). It was protected by a series of massive banks and ditches (cykes). These gave protection from attack but also demonstrated the great power of the kings. The dyke system can still be seen today, particularly to the west of the town.

The Romans were well aware of the importance of Camulodunum. The Emperors Augustus and Gaius (Caligula) both considered invading Britain but it was only after Cunobelin's death, in about AD 40, that serious plans for conquest were made.

In AD 41 Claudius became Emperor of Rome. His hold on power was weak and he needed to strengthen it. One of the best ways to do this was to gain popularity through military conquest, and Britain was an obvious target.

In April AD43 a Roman army, led by the general Aulus Plautius, set sail for the shores of Britain. They landed in Kent and. as the capture of Camulodunum was their principal objective, they began to march north. As the Roman army approached Camulodunum, Claudius arrived from Italy to take personal charge of the attack on this British stronghold. The Romans quickly captured the Iron Age capital. The Britons, already demoralised, were no match for the organised Roman army, whose attack may have been made even more terrifying by the use of elephants, an animal the Britons would never have been before. Though the Britons were not yet totally defeated, many now recognised the Romans as victorious, and a number of British tribal kings surrendered to Claudius while he was at Camulodunum.

It was important for the Romans to keep control of the native capital so they built a fortress on the hilltop. where Colchester's modern town centre now stands. By about AD49 the fortress was replaced by a town. This became the first capital of the new Roman province.

At Colchester, in the early years after the Roman invasion, life for many of the Britons were harsh. Many had their homes and land stolen by the new Roman settlers.

Some were forced into slavery and were made to build a grand temple dedicated to the Roman Emperor Claudius.

In AD 60 a revolt against the Romans broke out. It was led by Boudica (popularly known as Boadicea), who was queen of the Iceni, a tribe that lived in the area of modern Norfolk and north Suffolk. There were many reasons for the revolt, but the spark that started it was an assault n Boudica and her two daughters by Roman soldiers and the seizure of royal property after the death of her husband, Prasutagus.

Boudica led her army south to attack Colchester, the capital of Roman Britain. In the town was the grand Temple of Claudius, which was a symbol to the Britons of their oppression by the Romans, 'the citadel of an eternal tyranny' as described by the Roman historian Tacitus.

The main body of the Roman army was too far away to provide help, and the town had no real defences. Confronted with Boudica's army the townspeople fell back to the area of the Temple. After a two-day siege the last defences were broken and everyone inside was killed.

Leaving Colchester a smouldering ruin, Boudica led her army to destroy the Roman settlemenents at London and St Albans before being finally defeated. Boudica escaped but later committed suicide and was buried in a secret location by her people.

After the Boudican revolt Colchester was rebuilt on top of the burnt ruins. This time, though, the precaution was taken to surround the town with strong walls, which can still be seen today. It developed into a large and wealthy town and. even thought it lost its role as the capital of the province, it remained one of the most important towns in Roman Britain. The Temple of Claudius was rebuilt and was the most important of many temples within the town and in the surrounding area. The town boasted two theatres, one in the area of modern-day Maidenburgh Street and the other on the outskirts at Gosbecks. It was the hub of a network of roads leading out into the surrounding countryside and on to other Roman settlements and towns.

By the start of the fifth century, Roman society in Britain was crumbling, and new Saxon settlers were starting to arrive in Essex from across the North Sea. The Saxons were not used to living in towns and so, after the abandonment of Britain by the Romans in AD 410, Colchester rapidly declined and the buildings fell into ruin. However, the memory of Colchester as a place of ancient importance remained.

Colchester began to grow again in importance in the late Saxon period. After the Norman Conquest in 1066 Colchester saw dramatic growth. At the time of the 'Domesday' survey in 1086 it was ranked fifth equal in England in terms of tax and had a population of 2,500. In about 1076, because of Colchester's strategic importance on the route from East Anglia to London, William the Conqueror ordered his Steward, Eudo de Rie, to build a castle in stone - the keep of which is the largest ever constructed by the Normans. The Benedictine Abbey of St John was founded in 1095, again by Eudo de Rie, and St botolph's Priory was refounded in about 1100 as the first Augustinian abbey in Britain.

In 1189 the town received its first Royal Charter from Richard I. This gave the wealthier citizens various rights to manage local affairs, including markets, the Colne fisheries and judicial arrangements. These privileges were confirmed and extended by successive charters; that of King Edward III in 1362 gave the town's burgesses (officials) the right to hunt fox, hare and polecat - an unusual and unique privilege.

Colchester remained the largest and in many respects the principal town in Essex throughout the Middle Ages. Local industry included pottery kilns at Middleborough, just outside the North Gate, and leather-working, which reached its peak in the early fourteenth century. The town also had a port, which moved to its present site at the Hythe from Old Heath in about the eleventh century. However, because of the shallowness of the River Colne it never developed into a major port and consequently much of Colchester's trade was carried out through London.

The later medieval wealth of Colchester was founded on the cloth trade. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the town gained a reputation all over Europe for the manufacture of russet and later, fine grey cloths. The principal destinations were Prussia and Gascony in south-west France.

The seventeenth century was a time of wildly varying fortunes for Colchester. The population at first expanded rapidly on the success of the cloth trade, reaching about 11,000 in 1620. Most of the town's overseas trade was with Rotterdam, but Colchester ships voyaged the length of the English east coast exchanging cloth and agricultural produce such as cheese, butter, grain and wood for goods such as coal and salt from Newcastle and wool, oil and soap from London.

Richard Buxton served as Mayor of Colchester in 1636 and 1645 at a time of increasing tension in the town. The cloth trade brought huge wealth to bay-makers such as the Tayspill family, but the ordinary weavers were at the mercy of fluctuations in the trade. Whenever the trade slumped, as it did in the 1640s, there was the danger of riots. Religious rivalries also often led to disturbances in this radically Protestant town.

Colchester backed Parliament against King Charles I during the Civil War (1642-51), providing troops, horses and money for the cause. In August 1642 an angry crowd looted Sir John Lucas' house at St John's Abbey and imprisoned him in the Moot Hall on suspicion of gathering arms to help the King. By 1648 the Royalists had been defeated, and the war seemed over. However, a few die-hard Royalists, including Sir Charles Lucas (Sir John Lucas' brother), raised a new force in Kent and marched on London. They were beaten off and moved into Essex, making for Norfolk. On 12 June 1648 they arrived at the gates of Colchester. Under threat, the townspeople agreed to let them in, expecting them to stay for a day. However, the Parliamentarian army, led by Sir Thomas Fairfax, arrived. They failed to storm the town and so settled in for a siege which was to last seventy-six days.

The siege had a devastating effect on Colchester. The town was heavily bombarded, and many buildings, including St Botolph's Priory, were destroyed or damaged. The townspeople were besieged by an army that they largely supported. They slowly starved during one of the coldest and wettest summers known and were reduced to eating dogs, rats and candles. In a final blow at the end of the siege the town was ordered to pay the enormous fine of £12,000 (more than £2m today) for harbouring the enemy. Sir Charles Lucas and his fellow Royalist commander Sir George Lisle were held in the Castle in what is now called the Lucal Vault and then executed outside the Castle by firing squad. This spot is now marked y an obelisk.

A further setback to the town occurred less than twenty years later with the return of the Black Death. It had first arrived in Colchester during the winter of 1348. More than 1,000 people died - about a quarter of the town's population. For the next three centuries the plague remained present in the town t a low level. In the summer of 1665 it flared up in a final epidemic that spread from London. About 4,500 people died - half the population of Colchester. This remains the worst epidemic of moderin times in England

The town, though, recovered quickly from both disasters to finish the century largely as it had started. Cloth was the main, but fickle, source of wealth for many, and religious debate was a major force in town life and politics. Colchester was quick to embrace Prostestantism at the Reformation and became a focal point of opposition to Queen Mary's Catholic government. The town was described as 'a harbourer of heretics and ever was.' Between 1555 and 1558, twenty-three  people were burnt in the town; only London and Canterbury witnessed more burnings.

It was about this time that what is now known of the Dutch Quarter of the town came into prominence. A large number of Dutch refugees had fled from Flanders to Colchester in around 1575 after a failed rebellion against Catholic Spain. Many of these people were skilled weavers and set-up a community where they lived and worked. Many of their timber-framed houses and are still here in their original, unspoilt state.

Modern Colchester

In the High Street (town centre) of modern Colchester in the Town Hall, built in 1902 with its imposing 164ft clock tower, at the top of which is a status of the patron saint of Colchester, St Helena. This can be seen clearly from around the town and looks superb when lit-up at night. Below the statue of St Helena are 4 ravens representing the harbourmaster, signifying Colchester's past history as a major port, and 4 statues representing agriculture, defence, building and industry. There are also 6 further statues representing people who have been significant in the history of the town.

Another famous Colchester landmark is a Victorian water tower, known locally as 'Jumbo' Built in 1882 it was nicknamed after an elephant which was controversially sold by London Zoo to the American showman P.T. Barnam at about the time it was built. It is a building that locals either love or hate! It does however make a very useful landmark being visable from much of the town. It is built near to the Balkerne Gate which is believed to be the original main entrance into Colchester in Roman times. Also nearby Jumbo are the Mercury Theatre where shows and plays are staged all year round and the Colchester Arts Centre which stages music concerts to suit tastes as varied as blues, jazz, folk and rock, plus comedy & drama.