Heritage > Historic Places

Colchester

A thousand years before the Roman Conquest of Britain there was a bronze age settlement in the Colchester area. In the 1st century AD, the leader of the Catuvellauni tribe, Cunobelin - Shakespeare's Cymbeline - moved his capital to this ancient site. The ramparts of this British City which was known as Camulodunum can still be seen today.

In 44AD the city was captured by a Roman army under the Emperor Claudius, who established the first Roman settlement in Britain for veteran soldiers. This walled Roman camp stood within the ramparts of the tribal capital. It had Law courts, council chambers, public baths, a theatre and a temple to emperor Claudius. The Roman town plan can still be traced in some of the streets - High Street, North Street and Head Street.

Camulodonum flourished until it was stormed, in 60AD, by Boudica queen of the Iceni tribe. The Iceni massacred the Romans and razed the city. When they were eventually defeated by the Romans, Colchester was rebuilt but never recovered it's importance.

By the time of the Norman conquest, Colchester - known to the Saxons as Colnecester - was a thriving centre. In 1085, using Roman materials, the Normans constructed a castle keep which was twice the size of the white tower at the Tower of London. The Normans left other legacies. St John's abbey was built in 1086 and St Botolph's Priory, the first Augustinian house in England, was established in 1100. The Normans also built up a thriving cloth industry.

In 1648 Colchester was besieged by the Parliamentarian forces commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax for 12 weeks. After the surrender of the town, the royalist generals, Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle, were shot in the castle by a firing squad.



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