Colchester is the oldest recorded Roman town in England, although it existed as a Celtic settlement before the Roman conquest and there is archaeological evidence of settlement 3,000 years ago. Its Celtic name was "Camulodunon", meaning "the Fortress of Camulos". (Camulos was the Celtic god of war.) This name was modified to the Roman spelling of "Camulodunum" (written "CAMVLODVNVM").

Camulodunum was the capital of the Catuvellauni tribe. King Cunobelinus (or "Cunobelinus") (Cymbeline in William Shakespeare's play and "Old King Cole" of the nursery rhyme) was ruler of the Catuvellauni when the Romans invaded Britain in AD43.

A Roman legionary fortress was established at Colchester in AD43. This was the first permanent legionary fortress to be built in Britain. Later, when the Roman frontier moved north (c. AD49), Colchester became a colonia known as Colonia Claudia Victricensis (written "COLONIA CLAVDIA VICTRICENSIS"). Colchester was the first Roman capital of Britain before it was moved to the more accessible site of London.

A Roman monumental temple was built at Colchester in c. AD44 and was dedicated to the Emperor Claudius as The Temple of the Divine Claudius. The temple was completely destroyed during Boudicca's rebellion in AD61.

Medieval Colchester's main landmark is Colchester Castle, which is an 11th century Norman keep, and built atop the vaults of the old Roman temple. The castle is surrounded by the landscaped Castle Park. The castle is a minute's walk from the high street.

In 1189, Colchester was granted its first Royal Charter by King Richard I (Richard the Lionheart.) The charter was granted at Dover with the King about to embark on one of his many journeys away from England. The borough celebrated the 800th anniversary of its charter in 1989.

There were many other charters were granted by successive monarchs. The 1413 Charter granted by Henry V is on display in the Castle Museum.

The 1189 charter granted the borough rights to the oyster fishery in the estuary of the River Colne.

Between 1550 and 1600, a large number of weavers and clothmakers from Flanders emigrated to Colchester and the surrounding areas where they were affectionately referred to as the 'Dutch'. They were famed for the production of Bays and Says cloth. 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.

In 1648, Colchester was thrown into the thick of the English Civil War when a large Royalist army (led by Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle) entered the largely parliamentarian town. They were hotly pursued from Kent by a Roundhead army led by Sir Thomas Fairfax who besieged the town for eleven and a half weeks. By that time, many of the town's most ancient monuments like St. Mary's Church and the Gate of St. John's Abbey were partially destroyed and the inhabitants were reduced to eating candles and boots. When the Royalists surrendered in the late summer, Lucas and Lisle were shot in the grounds of Colchester Castle. The spot is marked by an obelisk today and there is a myth that no grass will grow in this area (it has since been covered with tarmac to make sure.)

At around 9:20 in the morning of April 22, 1884, the Colchester area was at the epicentre of the UK's most destructive earthquake, estimated to have been 5.2 on the Richter Scale, and lasting for about 20 seconds. The quake was felt over much of southern England and into Europe, and over 1,200 buildings were destroyed or damaged.

This page was last updated: 12 September 2005

Town history extracts are taken from Wikipedia and are licensed under GFDL