It reeks of battles and bloody conflicts, from the Norman castle that straddles the colossal base of a great Roman Temple, to the ancient walls of the town that snake in and out of sight for two and a half kilometres, propping up Inns, and vanishing behind Dutch weavers' cottages before re-emerging as the retaining walls of modern houses.
Founded by Claudius the God
Although the Roman Emperor, Claudius, founded Colchester in AD50, it is the rebuilt Roman town of the second century that we see as we gaze at the monumental Balterne Gate. Once a magnificent triumphal exit to London, it stands today as a ruined arch forming part of the Hole in the Wall pub.
The Roman period is brought vividly to life with a visit to the Castle dungeons where, in an Award Winning Museum, the blood-curdling cries of the conquered are hideously magnified for the benefit of the open-eyed school children experienceing a Living H|istory project. Afterwards, you can tremble in a prison cell as you listen to the Witchfinder General interrogating a 15-year=old girl in the mid-seventeenth century.
From Romans to rufugees escaping religious persecution
It wasn't just the Romans who left their mark on Colchester. Saxons and Normans, Flemish refugees and Parliamentarians have all had a hand in shaping the town. From Holland came Flemish refugees escaping religious persecution to settle in what is now known as the old Dutch Quarter in Stockwell Street, an area of half-timbered and plastered houses sympathetically restored in the 1970's. Skilled in weaving, these refugees helped establish the town as a centre for the serge then in demand, in the process giving a boost to the languishing native textile industry.
Colchester's famous buildings, now pubs:
Colchester's architecture embraces virtually every century right up to the 20h, evidenced by a walk along the High Street . The Alms Houses that lie along one side of the street are as pleasing to the eye today as they must have been to the beneficiaries in times past. The older 16th century houses that now double as Inns, Hotels and shops, are among the most photographed houses in Britain today.
Chief among these is the Red Lion built in 1400 as a private mansion and converted to an Inn in the 16th century, and the Rose and Crown, the oldest recorded Inn in England. The timbers of the porch walls of the Red Lion still show the holes left by the lead musket balls in the unsuccessful defence of the town in the 1648 Civil War.
Colchester is a gem, an often overlooked small city where elephants once walked its crooked streets and where Claudius the God built his temple.
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