View source for Colchester

{{Short description|City in Essex, England}}
{{about|the settlement in England }}
{{Use British English|date=June 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox UK place
| type = [[City]]
| country = England
| static_image_name = {{multiple image
| border = infobox
| perrow = 1/3/2/1
| total_width = 290
| align = center
| caption_align = center
| image1 = Colchester Castle (geograph 4444025).jpg
| caption1                = [[Colchester Castle]]
| image2 = Colchester Town Hall 03.JPG
| caption2                = [[Colchester Town Hall|Town Hall]]
| image3 = Colchester, St Botolphs Priory.jpg
| caption3                = [[St Botolph's Priory]]
| image4 =  Colchester war memorial - panoramio (1345).jpg
| caption4                 = [[War Memorial]]  
| image5 = St Botolph, Colchester - geograph.org.uk - 1862910.jpg
| caption5 = St Botolph's Church
| image6 = AJM Colchester Castle Park Summer 008-9.jpg
| caption6 = [[Hollytrees Museum]]
}}
| static_image_caption = 
| official_name = Colchester
| coordinates = {{coord|51.8917|0.903|display=inline,title}}
| os_grid_reference = TL998254
| population = 130,245
| population_ref = (Built up area, 2021)<ref name ="BUA21" />
| area_total_km2 = 
| statistic_title = Founded
| statistic = 1st century BC
| shire_district = [[City of Colchester]]
| shire_county = [[Essex]]
| region = East of England
| constituency_westminster = [[Colchester (UK Parliament constituency)|Colchester]]
| post_town = COLCHESTER
| postcode_area = CO
| postcode_district = CO1–4
| dial_code = 01206
| london_distance = {{convert|56|mi|abbr=on}}
| london_direction = SW
| website = {{URL|https://colchester.gov.uk}}
}}

'''Colchester''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=en-uk-Colchester.ogg|ˈ|k|ɒ|l|tʃ|ɛ|s|t|ər|,_|ˈ|k|oʊ|l|-|,_|-|tʃ|ɪ|s|t|-}} {{respell|KO(H)L|chest|ər|,_-chist|-}})<ref>{{cite web|url=http://seas3.elte.hu/cube/index.pl?s=Colchester&gimson=on&t=&syllcount=&maxout=&wfreq=0-9&grammar=|title=CUBE: Colchester|website=CUBE pronunciation dictionary|access-date=21 December 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/36091|title=Colchester|work=Oxford English Dictionary Gateway|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|access-date=28 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/colchester|title=Colchester|work=[[Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary]]|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=2 September 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite LPD|2|Colchester}}</ref> is a city in north-eastern [[Essex]], England.{{efn|The focus of this article is the built up area, which does not have legal city status of itself, but is widely regarded as a city since it is the main and nominate settlement in the borough of Colchester, which is the area that was formally granted the city status.}}<ref name="Crown Office-2022">{{Cite web|date=29 September 2022|title=Crown Office – The Gazette|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4171582|quote=The Late QUEEN was pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 5 September 2022 to ordain that the Borough of Colchester shall have the status of a City.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=UK's oldest town officially becomes newest city|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd1vqk27e11o|publisher=BBC News|date=23 November 2022|postscript=This citation, although from a source that is usually reliable, contains a material error of fact in its claim that "Colchester was named one of eight towns to be made cities to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee". That status was awarded to eight local authority areas, none of which was a town.}}</ref> At the [[2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses|2021 census]] the built up area had a population of 130,245, making it the second-largest settlement in Essex, after [[Southend-on-Sea]].<ref name=BUA21>{{Cite web|title=Towns and cities, characteristics of built-up areas, England and Wales: Census 2021 – Office for National Statistics|url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/datasets/townsandcitiescharacteristicsofbuiltupareasenglandandwalescensus2021|access-date=2023-10-12|website=ons.gov.uk}}</ref> It gives its name to the wider [[City of Colchester|Colchester local government district]] which also covers an extensive surrounding area. The [[demonym]] is ''Colcestrian''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.essexcountystandard.co.uk/search/?search=Colcestrian|title=Search Results|website=Essexcountystandard.co.uk|access-date=8 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924002453/http://www.essexcountystandard.co.uk/search/?search=Colcestrian|archive-date=24 September 2015}}</ref>
 
Colchester occupies the site of [[Camulodunum]], the first [[Colonia (Roman)|major city]] in [[Roman Britain]] and its first capital. Colchester therefore claims to be Britain's first city.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.visitcolchester.com/|title=Welcome to Colchester|website=Visit Colchester}}</ref><ref name="Tourist Board 2">{{cite web|url=http://www.visitcolchester.com/Britains-Oldest-Town.aspx|title=Colchester – Britain's Oldest Recorded Town|last=Colchester Tourist Board|year=2011|publisher=visitcolchester.com|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130105032025/http://www.visitcolchester.com/Britains-Oldest-Town.aspx|archive-date=5 January 2013|url-status=dead|access-date=19 May 2011}}</ref> It has been an important military base since the [[Roman Empire|Roman era]], with [[Colchester Garrison]] currently housing the [[16th Air Assault Brigade (United Kingdom)|16th Air Assault Brigade]].

The city is on the [[River Colne, Essex|River Colne]],<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Colchester|volume=6|pages=660–661}}</ref> and lies {{convert|50|mi|km|abbr=off}} north-east of London. It is connected to London by the [[A12 road (England)|A12 road]] and the [[Great Eastern Main Line]] railway.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/3353621/King-Commute-the-best-new-property-deals-within-an-hour-of-central-London.html|work=The Daily Telegraph|title=King Commute: the best new property deals within an hour of central London|first=Sheila|last=Prophet|date=12 October 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140412203821/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/3353621/King-Commute-the-best-new-property-deals-within-an-hour-of-central-London.html|archive-date=12 April 2014}}</ref> Colchester is less than {{convert|30|mi|km|-1||abbr=out}} from [[London Stansted Airport]] and {{convert|20|mi|km|-1|abbr=out}} 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 [[Colchester City Council]] and [[Essex County Council]].

==Name==
There are several theories about the origin of the name ''Colchester''.  Some contend that is derived from the [[Latin]] words ''[[Colonia (Roman)|colonia]]'' (referring to a type of [[Roman Empire|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).<ref name="Crummy, Philip 1997">Crummy, Philip (1997) City of Victory; the story of Colchester – Britain's first Roman town. Published by Colchester Archaeological Trust ({{ISBN|1 897719 04 3}})</ref><ref name="Ashdown">Ashdown-Hill, John (2009). Mediaeval Colchester's Lost Landmarks. Published by The Breedon Books Publishing Company Limited. ({{ISBN|978-1-85983-686-6}})</ref> 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.<ref name="Crummy, Philip 1997"/> In this way of interpreting the name, the [[River Colne, Essex|River Colne]] which runs through the area takes its name from ''Colonia'' as well.<ref name="Crummy, Philip 1997"/> [[Cologne]] (German ''Köln'') also gained its name from a similar etymology (from its Roman name [[Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium]]).<ref name="Ashdown"/>

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''. [[Eilert Ekwall|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."<ref name="Ekwall">Eilert Ekwall (1928). English River-names. Published by Oxford at the Clarendon Press. ({{ISBN|9780198691198}})</ref>

The popular association of the name with [[King Coel]] has no academic merit.

==History==
{{Main|History of Colchester}}

===Prehistory===
The gravel hill upon which Colchester is built was formed in the [[Middle Pleistocene]] period and was shaped into a [[River terrace|terrace]] between the [[Anglian glaciation]] and the [[Ipswichian]] [[glaciation]] by an ancient precursor to the [[River Colne, Essex|River Colne]].<ref name="Crummy, Philip 1992">Crummy, Philip (1992) Colchester Archaeological Report 6: Excavations at Culver Street, the Gilberd School, and other sites in Colchester 1971–85. Published by Colchester Archaeological Trust ({{ISBN|0-9503727-9-X}})</ref> From these deposits [[Paleolithic|Palaeolithic]] [[Stone tool|flint tools]], including at least six [[Acheulian]] [[handaxes]], have been found.<ref name="Crummy, Philip 1992"/> Further flint tools made by [[hunter gatherer]]s living in the Colne Valley during the [[Mesolithic]] have been discovered, including a [[tranchet axe]] from Middlewick.<ref name="Crummy, Philip 1992"/><ref>Wymer, J. (ed.) "Gazetteer of Mesolithic sites in England and Wales", in CBA Research Report 20</ref> In the 1980s an archaeological inventory showed that over 800 shards of pottery from the [[Neolithic]], [[Bronze Age]] and early [[Iron Age]] have been found within Colchester, along with many examples of [[Flint tool|worked flint]].<ref name="Crummy, Philip 1992"/> This included a pit found at Culver Street containing a ritually placed Neolithic [[grooved ware]] pot,<ref name="Crummy, Philip 1992"/> as well as find spots containing later [[Deverel-Rimbury culture|Deverel-Rimbury bucket urns]].<ref name="Crummy, Philip 1992"/> Colchester is surrounded by Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments that pre-date the town, including a Neolithic [[henge]] at [[Tendring, Essex|Tendring]], large [[Tumulus|Bronze Age barrow cemeteries]] at [[Dedham, Essex|Dedham]] and [[Langham, Essex|Langham]], and a larger example at [[Brightlingsea]] consisting of a cluster of 22 barrows.<ref>Strachan, David (1998) Essex from the Air, Archaeology and history from aerial photographs. Published by Essex County Council ({{ISBN|1 85281 165 X}})</ref>

===Celtic origins===
[[File:Colchester Flag.png|thumb|Flag of Colchester as flown from the City Hall, based on its [[Coat of arms of Colchester|coat of arms]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nickbarlow/3653355763|title=Colchester Flag|date=18 June 2009}}</ref>]]
Colchester is said to be the [[Oldest town in Britain|oldest recorded town]] in Britain on the grounds that it was mentioned by [[Pliny the Elder]], who died in AD 79,<ref>Pliny, ''Naturalis Historia'', II, 187</ref> although the Celtic name of the town, ''Camulodunon'' appears on coins minted by tribal chieftain [[Tasciovanus]] in the period 20{{ndash}}10 BC.<ref name="Crummy, Philip 1997"/> Before the Roman conquest of Britain it was already a centre of power for [[Cunobelin]]{{snd}} known to Shakespeare as [[Cymbeline]]{{snd}} king of the [[Catuvellauni]] (c. 5 BC{{snd}}AD 40), who minted coins there.<ref>P. Salway, ''Roman Britain'' (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1981), pp. 55–6</ref> Its [[Celt]]ic name, Camulodunon, variously represented as CA, CAM, CAMV, CAMVL and CAMVLODVNO on the coins of Cunobelinus, means 'the fortress of [the war god] [[Camulos]]'.<ref>V. Watts, ''The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names'' (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2004), p. 113; T. W. Potter, 'The Transformation of Britain', in P. Salway, ed., ''The Roman Era'' (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2002), p. 21</ref> During the 30s AD Camulodunon controlled a large swathe of Southern and Eastern Britain, with Cunobelin called "''King of the Britons''" by Roman writers.<ref name="Crummy, Philip 1997"/> Camulodunon is sometimes popularly considered one of many possible sites around Britain for the legendary (perhaps [[mythology|mythical]]) [[Camelot]] of King Arthur,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/8561756/Camelot-discovering-the-legend-of-King-Arthur-around-Britain.html?image=5|title=Camelot: discovering the legend of King Arthur around Britain|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=8 June 2011|access-date=15 August 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926075557/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/8561756/Camelot-discovering-the-legend-of-King-Arthur-around-Britain.html?image=5|archive-date=26 September 2015}}</ref> though the name ''Camelot'' (first mentioned by the 12th century French Arthurian storyteller [[Chrétien de Troyes]]) is most likely a corruption of ''[[Battle of Camlann|Camlann]]'', a now unknown location first mentioned in the 10th century Welsh annalistic text [[Annales Cambriae]], identified as the place where Arthur was slain in battle.<ref>Brugger, Ernst "Beiträge zur Erklärung der arthurischen Geographie II: Gorre", in: Zeitschrift für französische Sprache und Literatur, Volume 28, Berlin, 1905, pp. 1–71 (p. 22-23).</ref>

===Roman period===
{{Main|Camulodunum}}
[[File:The Roman Town Wall, Head Street to the Balkerne Gate 3.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|Part of the Roman walls in Colchester]]

Soon after the [[Roman conquest of Britain]] in AD 43, a Roman legionary fortress was established,<ref>J. Nelson, ed., ''The Victoria History of the County of Essex'', IX (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1994), pp. 7–10</ref> the first in Britain.<ref name="Crummy, Philip 1997"/> Later, when the Roman frontier moved outwards and the twentieth legion had moved to the west (c. AD 49), Camulodunum became a [[Colonia (Roman)|colonia]] named in a second-century inscription as ''Colonia Victricensis''. This contained a large and elaborate [[Temple of Claudius, Colchester|Temple to the Divine Claudius]],<ref>Nelson, ed. ''V.C.H. Essex'', IX, p. 10</ref> the largest [[Roman Temple|classical-style temple]] in Britain, as well as at least seven other Romano-British temples.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roman-britain.co.uk/places/colchester_temples/|title=Temple of Claudius at Camulodunon (Colchester)|website=Roman-britain.co.uk|access-date=20 July 2014}}</ref> Colchester is home to two of the five [[Roman theatre (structure)|Roman theatres]] found in Britain; the example at Gosbecks (site of the [[Trinovantes|Iron Age]] royal farmstead) is the largest in [[Great Britain|Britain]], able to seat 5,000.<ref name="Crummy, Philip 1997"/>

Camulodunum served as a provincial Roman capital of Britain, but was attacked and destroyed during [[Boudica]]'s rebellion in AD 61.<ref>Salway, ''Roman Britain'', pp. 89–90, 117–18</ref> Sometime after the destruction, London became the capital of the province of [[Roman Britain|Britannia]].<ref>Salway, ''Roman Britain'', p. 530</ref> Colchester's city walls c. 3,000&nbsp;yd. long were built c.65–80 A.D. when the Roman town was rebuilt after the Boudicca rebellion.<ref>{{cite web |title=Walls and Gates British History |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=21995 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102061835/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=21995 |archive-date=2 November 2012 |access-date=17 January 2010 |publisher=British-history.ac.uk}}</ref> In 2004, Colchester Archaeological Trust discovered the remains of a Roman Circus (chariot race track) underneath the Garrison in Colchester, a unique find in Britain.<ref>D. Mattingly, ''An Imperial Possession; Britain in the Roman Empire'' (Penguin Books: London, 2007), pp. 269–70</ref> The city reached its peak in the second and third centuries AD.<ref name="Crummy, Philip 1997" /><ref name="Faulkner, 1994">Faulkner, Neil. (1994) Late Roman Colchester, In Oxford Journal of Archaeology 13(1)</ref> It may have reached a population of 30,000 in that period.<ref name="google">{{cite book |author1=McCloy, A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mswynZFMtqgC |title=Discovering Roman Britain |author2=Midgley, A. |date=2008 |publisher=New Holland |isbn=9781847731289 |page=60}}</ref>

In 2014 a hoard of jewellery, known as The Fenwick Hoard, named for the shop it was found beneath,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Boyle |first1=Danny |date=23 March 2016 |title='Fenwick Treasure': Hoard of Roman jewellery buried to save it from Boudicca goes on display in Colchester |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/03/23/fenwick-treasure-hoard-of-roman-jewellery-buried-to-save-it-from/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200401114237/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/03/23/fenwick-treasure-hoard-of-roman-jewellery-buried-to-save-it-from/ |archive-date=1 April 2020 |access-date=1 April 2020 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> was discovered in the town centre.<ref name="The Colchester Archaeologist 1">{{cite news |date=23 March 2016 |title=The Fenwick Treasure at Williams & Griffin! |url=http://www.thecolchesterarchaeologist.co.uk/?p=14844 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160320171848/http://www.thecolchesterarchaeologist.co.uk/?p=14844 |archive-date=20 March 2016 |access-date=23 March 2016 |work=The Colchester Archaeologist}}</ref><ref name="The Colchester Archaeologist 2">{{cite news |title='the Fenwick treasure' reveals more gems... |url=http://www.thecolchesterarchaeologist.co.uk/?p=15398 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160320091301/http://www.thecolchesterarchaeologist.co.uk/?p=15398 |archive-date=20 March 2016 |access-date=23 March 2016 |work=The Colchester Archaeologist}}</ref> The director of Colchester Archaeological Trust, Philip Crummy, described the hoard as being of "national importance and one of the finest ever uncovered in Britain".<ref>{{cite news |author=Danny Boyle |date=23 March 2016 |title='Fenwick Treasure': Hoard of Roman jewellery buried to save it from Boudicca goes on display in Colchester |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/archaeology/12202566/Fenwick-Treasure-Hoard-of-Roman-jewellery-buried-to-save-it-from-Boudicca-goes-on-display-in-Colchester.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323202610/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/archaeology/12202566/Fenwick-Treasure-Hoard-of-Roman-jewellery-buried-to-save-it-from-Boudicca-goes-on-display-in-Colchester.html |archive-date=23 March 2016 |access-date=23 March 2016 |work=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref>

====Chariot Racing====

A [[Roman circus]] was discovered in 2004 during archaeological investigations undertaken by Colchester Archaeological Trust prior to the redevelopment of Colchester Garrison, some 450m to the south of the walled part of the Roman town. Glass and pottery vessels decorated with scenes from chariot races had been discovered in the C19 and C20.  Based on the foundations, it is estimated that the circus could accommodate around 8,000 spectators.
Although dating evidence for the construction of the circus is limited and imprecise, it has been suggested that it was built in the AD C2; demolition may have started around the mid to late AD 270s.

Excavation has also confirmed that the circus was surrounded by a contemporary cemetery from which 516 burials have recovered.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Colchester Roman Circus including sections of the Benedictine Abbey of St John, Non Civil Parish - 1021426 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1021426?section=official-list-entry|access-date=2025-08-13 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}}</ref>

===Sub-Roman and Saxon period===
[[File:Holy Trinity Church Colchester Dorway in Tower 02.jpg|thumb|Saxon doorway in the tower of Holy Trinity Church, Colchester, incorporating Roman tiles]]
There is evidence of hasty re-organisation of Colchester's defences around 268–82 AD, followed later, during the fourth century, by the blocking of the Balkerne Gate.<ref>J. Cooper, ed., ''The Victoria History of the County of Essex, IX: The Borough of Colchester'' (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1995), pp. 16–17, 248</ref> 

The archaeologist [[Mortimer Wheeler|Sir Mortimer Wheeler]] was the first to propose that the lack of early [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] finds in a triangle between London, Colchester and [[St Albans]] could indicate a 'sub-Roman triangle' where British rule continued after the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons.<ref>R. E. M. Wheeler, ''London and the Saxons'' (London, 1935)</ref> Since then excavations have revealed some early Saxon occupation, including a fifth-century wooden hut built on the ruins of a Roman house in present-day Lion Walk. Archaeological excavations have shown that public buildings were abandoned and is very doubtful whether Colchester survived as a settlement with any urban characteristics after the sixth century.<ref>J. N. L. Myres, ''The English Settlements'' (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1986), p. 214</ref>

The chronology of its revival is obscure. But the ninth-century ''Historia Brittonum'', attributed to [[Nennius]], mentions the town, which it calls ''Cair Colun'', in a list of the thirty most important cities in Britain.<ref>''Nennius'', ed. J. Morris (Phillimore: London and Chichester, 1980); Watts, ''Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names'', p. 149</ref> Colchester was in the area assigned to the [[Danelaw]] in c.880 and remained in Danish hands until 917 when it was besieged and recaptured by the army of [[Edward the Elder]].<ref>D, Hill, ''An Atlas of Anglo-Saxon History'' (Blackwell: Oxford, 1981), pp. 47, 56–8; ''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', trans. G. N. Garmondsway, 2nd edition (Dent: London, 1954), p. 103; F, Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', 2nd edition, (Clarendon Press: Oxford, 1947), pp. 324–5</ref> The tenth-century Saxons called the town ''Colneceastre'', which is directly equivalent to the ''Cair Colun'' of 'Nennius'.<ref>Watts, ''Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names'', p. 149</ref> The tower of Holy Trinity Church is late Saxon work.

===Medieval and Tudor periods===
[[File:Colchester castle 800.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Colchester Castle]], completed c. 1100 AD]]
Medieval Colchester's main landmark is [[Colchester Castle]], which is an 11th-century Norman keep and built on top of the vaults of the old [[Roman temple]]. There are notable medieval ruins in Colchester, including the surviving gateway of the [[Benedictine]] [[St. John's Abbey, Colchester|abbey of St John the Baptist]] (known locally as "St John's Abbey"), and the ruins of the [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] [[priory]] of [[St Botolph]] (known locally as "[[St Botolph's Priory]]"). Many of [[Colchester churches|Colchester's parish churches]] date from this period.

Colchester's medieval town seal incorporated the biblical text ''Intravit ihc: in quoddam castellum et mulier quedam excepit illum'' 'Jesus entered a certain castle and a woman there welcomed him' (Luke 10.38).  This is a commonplace allegory in which a castle is likened to Mary's womb and explains the name of Maidenburgh St, neighbouring the castle.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Briggs|first1=Keith|title=Maidenburgh, Geoffrey of Wells and Rabanus Maurus|journal=Nomina|date=2010|volume=33|pages=121–128|url=http://snsbi.org.uk/Nomina_articles/Nomina_33_Briggs.pdf}}</ref>

In 1189, Colchester was granted its first known [[royal charter]] by King Richard I ([[Richard I of England|Richard the Lionheart]]), although the wording suggests that it was based on an earlier one. It granted Colchester's [[Burgess (title)|burgess]]es the right to elect [[Bailiff#Historic bailiffs|bailiffs]] and a [[Judge#England and Wales|justice]].<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Cooper|editor1-first=Janet|editor2-last=Elrington|editor2-first=C. R.|year=1994|title=A History of the County of Essex: The Borough of Colchester|volume=IX|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol9/pp48-57|location=London|publisher=Victoria County History|pages=48–57|isbn=978-0-19-722784-8}}</ref> The borough celebrated the 800th anniversary of its charter in 1989.<ref>{{cite web|date=27 December 2002|url=http://www.oysterfayre.flyer.co.uk/1989newsreports.html|title=Oyster Fayre{{snd}}1989 News Reports|publisher=Oysterfayre.flyer.co.uk|access-date=17 January 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829164600/http://www.oysterfayre.flyer.co.uk/1989newsreports.html|archive-date=29 August 2008}}</ref>

Colchester developed rapidly during the later 14th century as a centre of the woollen cloth industry and became famous in many parts of Europe for its russets (fabrics of a grey-brown colour). This allowed the population to recover exceptionally rapidly from the effects of the [[Black Death]], particularly by immigration into the town.<ref name="R.H. Britnell, 1986">{{cite book|first=R. H.|last=Britnell|title=Growth and Decline in Colchester, 1300–1525|publisher=Cambridge|orig-date=1986|date=2009}}</ref>
Rovers Tye Farm, now a pub on [[Ipswich Road, Colchester|Ipswich Road]], has been documented as being established by 1353.<ref name=comms>{{cite journal|title=Communications|journal=A History of the County of Essex|volume=9, the Borough of Colchester|editor1-first=Janet|editor1-last=Cooper|editor2-first=C R|editor2-last=Elrington|location=London|year=1994|pages=233–237|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol9/pp233-237|access-date=29 July 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919055317/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol9/pp233-237|archive-date=19 September 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Colchester Map 1500AD.png|thumb|left|Colchester in 1500 AD]]
By the 'New Constitutions' of 1372, a borough council was instituted; the two [[bailiff]]s who represented the borough to the king were now expected to consult sixteen ordinary councillors and eight auditors (later called aldermen). Even though Colchester's fortunes were more mixed during the 15th century, it was still a more important place by the 16th century than it had been in the 13th. In 1334 it would not have ranked among England's wealthiest fifty towns, to judge from the taxation levied that year. By 1524, however, it ranked twelfth, as measured by its assessment to a lay subsidy.<ref name="R.H. Britnell, 1986"/>

[[File:Peake's House Colchester 01.jpg|thumb|Peake's House, one of the Elizabethan houses in the Dutch Quarter]]
Between 1550 and 1600, a large number of [[weaver (occupation)|weaver]]s and clothmakers from [[Flanders]] emigrated to Colchester and the surrounding areas.<ref name=Cooper>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=21968&strquery=colchester|title=The Borough of Colchester|editor1=Janet Cooper|editor2=C R Elrington|author1=A P Baggs|author2=Beryl Board|author3=Philip Crummy|author4=Claude Dove|author5=Shirley Durgan|author6=N R Goose|author7=R B Pugh|author8=Pamela Studd|author9=C C Thornton|work=A History of the County of Essex: Volume 9: The Borough of Colchester|publisher=Institute of Historical Research|year=1994|access-date=28 July 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102061859/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=21968&strquery=colchester|archive-date=2 November 2012}}</ref> They were famed for the production of "Bays and Says" cloths which were woven from [[wool]] and are normally associated with [[baize]] and [[serge (fabric)|serge]] although surviving examples show that they were rather different from their modern equivalents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cat.essex.ac.uk/reports/EAS-report-0030.pdf|title=Colchester Archaeological Trust Online Report Library – Colchester Bays, Says and Perpetuanas by Eliot Howard|publisher=University of Essex|access-date=8 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20121212020626/http://cat.essex.ac.uk/reports/EAS-report-0030.pdf|archive-date=12 December 2012}}</ref> An area in Colchester town centre is still known as the Dutch Quarter and many buildings there date from the [[Tudor dynasty|Tudor]] period. During this period Colchester was one of the most prosperous wool towns in England and was also famed for its [[oyster]]s.<ref name=Cooper/> Flemish refugees in the 1560s brought innovations that revived the local cloth trade, establishing the Dutch Bay Hall for quality control of the textiles for which Colchester became famous.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britainsfirstcity.com/heritage.html|title=Heritage|website=Colchester: Britain's First City|access-date=8 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209063510/https://www.britainsfirstcity.com/heritage.html|archive-date=9 February 2018}}</ref> The old Roman wall runs along Northgate Street in the Dutch Quarter.

In the reign of [[Mary I of England|Mary I]] (1553–1558) Colchester became a centre of Protestant "heresy" and in consequence at least 19 local people were burned at the stake at the castle, at first in front, later within the walls. They are commemorated on a tablet near the altar of St Peter's Church.
(Sources: John Foxe, Book of Martyrs; Mark Byford, The Process of Reformation in a Tudor Town)

===17th and 18th century===
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = {{visible anchor|Colchester Improvement Act 1623}}
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of England
| long_title            = An Act for the payringe and mainteyninge of the Haven River and Channell runing unto the Borowgh and Towne of Colchester in the Countie of Essex, and alsoe for the paveing of the said Towne.
| year                  = 1623
| citation              = [[21 Jas. 1]]. c. ''34'' {{Small|Pr.}}
| territorial_extent    = [[England and Wales]]
| royal_assent          = 29 May 1624
| commencement          = 12 February 1624{{efn|name=StartOfSession|Start of session.}}
| repeal_date           = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = [[Bays Regulation (Colchester) Act 1660]]
| status                = Current
| original_text         = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = {{visible anchor|Bays Regulation (Colchester) Act 1660}}
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of England
| long_title            = An Act for the regulating of the Trade of Bay-making, in the Dutch Bay Hall, in Colchester.
| year                  = 1660
| citation              = {{ubli|[[12 Cha. 2]]. c. ''7'' {{Small|Pr.}}{{efn|name=StatutesOfTheRealm|This is the citation in ''[[The Statutes of the Realm]]''.}}|[[12 Cha. 2]]. c. 17{{efn|name=StatutesAtLarge|This is the citation in ''[[The Statutes at Large]]''.}}}}
| territorial_extent    = [[England and Wales]]
| royal_assent          = 13 September 1660
| commencement          = 25 April 1660{{efn|name=StartOfSession}}
| repeal_date           = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = [[Colchester Improvement Act 1623]]
| status                = Current
| original_text         = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}

[[File:Lucas and Lise.jpg|thumb|upright=1.27|The place of execution of the Royalist soldiers [[Charles Lucas]] and [[George Lisle (Royalist)|George Lisle]] in 1648]]
The town saw the start of the [[Stour Valley riots]] of 1642, when the town house of [[John Lucas, 1st Baron Lucas of Shenfield]] was attacked by a large crowd. In 1648, during the [[Second English Civil War]], a [[Cavalier|Royalist]] army led by [[George Goring, 1st Earl of Norwich|Lord Goring]] entered the town. A pursuing [[Roundhead|Parliamentary]] army led by [[Thomas Fairfax]] and [[Henry Ireton]] surrounded the town for eleven and a half weeks, a period known as the [[Siege of Colchester]]. It started on 13 June. The Royalists surrendered in the late summer (on 27 August Lord Goring signed the surrender document in the Kings Head Inn) and [[Charles Lucas]] and [[George Lisle (Royalist)|George Lisle]] were executed in the grounds of [[Colchester Castle]].<ref>''The English Civil War: a military history of the three civil wars, 1642–1651'', Young, Peter and Holmes, Richard (1974) p. 290. Available here [https://books.google.com/books?id=_VsJAQAAIAAJ]</ref> A small obelisk marks the spot where they fell.

[[Daniel Defoe]] mentions in ''A tour through [[England and Wales]]'' that the town lost 5259 people<ref name=Defoe/> to the [[Great Plague of London|plague]] in 1665, ''"more in proportion than any of its neighbours, or than the city of London"''.<ref name=Defoe>Daniel Defoe, ''A tour through England and Wales'', J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd, London (1959) [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/text/chap_page.jsp?t_id=Defoe&c_id=2&cpub_id=0 Available online here] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303184013/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/text/chap_page.jsp?t_id=Defoe&c_id=2&cpub_id=0 |date=3 March 2016 }}</ref> By the time he wrote this in 1722, however, he estimated its population to be around 40,000 (including "out-villages").

Between 1797 and 1815 Colchester was the HQ of the Army's Eastern District, had a garrison of up to 6,000, and played a main role in defence against a threatened French or Dutch invasion, At various times it was the base of such celebrated officers as Lord Cornwallis, Generals Sir James Craig and David Baird, and Captain William Napier. It was in a state of alarm during the invasion threat of 1803/4, a period well chronicled by the contemporary local author Jane Taylor.
<ref>(Sources—Records of Army's Eastern Command at National Archives, Kew; Julian Foynes "East Anglia against the Tricolor 1793–1815", Poppyland Press, 2016)</ref>

===Victorian period===
Significant Victorian landmarks include [[Colchester Town Hall]], the [[Jumbo Water Tower]] and the [[Albert Hall, Colchester|Albert Hall]].<ref>{{NHLE|num=1337737|desc=The Albert Hall|access-date=9 May 2023}}</ref>

In 1884, the area was struck by the [[1884 Colchester earthquake|Colchester earthquake]], estimated to have been 4.7 on the [[Richter Scale]] causing extensive regional damage.

The [[Paxman diesels]] business has been associated with Colchester since 1865 when James Noah Paxman founded a partnership with the brothers Henry and Charles Davey ('Davey, Paxman, and Davey') and opened the Standard Ironworks. In 1925, Paxman produced its first spring injection oil engine and joined the English Electric Diesel Group in 1966{{snd}}later becoming part of the GEC Group. Since the 1930s the Paxman company's main business has been the production of [[diesel engine]]s.

===20th century and later===
[[File:Colchestermap.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|right|A map of Colchester from 1940]]
In the early 20th century Colchester lobbied to be the seat for a new [[Church of England]] [[diocese]] for [[Essex]], to be split off from the existing [[Diocese of Rochester]]. The bid was unsuccessful, with county town Chelmsford forming the seat of [[Diocese of Chelmsford|the new diocese]].<ref name=ModernColchester>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=21986&strquery=colchester|title=Modern Colchester: Introduction|editor1=Janet Cooper|editor2=C R Elrington|author1=A P Baggs|author2=Beryl Board|author3=Philip Crummy|author4=Claude Dove|author5=Shirley Durgan|author6=N R Goose|author7=R B Pugh|author8=Pamela Studd|author9=C C Thornton|work=A History of the County of Essex: Volume 9: The Borough of Colchester|publisher=Institute of Historical Research|year=1994|access-date=28 July 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102061923/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=21986&strquery=colchester|archive-date=2 November 2012}}</ref>

In the 2nd World War Colchester's main significance lay in its infantry and light-anti-aircraft training units and in the Paxman factory, which supplied a large proportion of the engines for British submarines and landing craft. Occasionally hit by stray single German aircraft in 1940 and 1941, in 1942 more serious attempts to bomb its industries were made by the Luftwaffe. None of these attacks hit their targets, but a raid on 11 August bombed [[Severalls Hospital]] and killed 38 elderly patients. In February 1944 a single raider caused a huge fire in the St Botolph's area which gutted warehouses, shops and part of Paxman's Britannia Works. The total wartime bombing death toll in the borough was 55.<ref>(Sources:--Eastern Command, 11 Corps, various divisional, brigade and battalion, and Colchester Garrison war diaries in WO 166 series at National Archives, Kew; 4 Civil Defence Region reports in HO 192/193 series at National Archives; CW 1 Police Incident records at Essex County Record Office).</ref>

The [[University of Essex]] was established at Wivenhoe Park in 1961.<ref name=ModernColchester/> The £22.7M {{convert|8|mi|km|0|abbr=off|adj=on}} [[A120 road|A120]] Colchester Eastern Bypass opened in June 1982.

Colchester and the surrounding area is currently undergoing significant regeneration,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.colchester-regen.co.uk|title=Homepage&nbsp;– Colchester Borough Council|publisher=Colchester-regen.co.uk|access-date=17 January 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121080542/http://www.colchester-regen.co.uk/|archive-date=21 November 2008}}</ref> including controversial greenfield residential development in Mile End and Braiswick.<ref name="lovemyland.org.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.lovemyland.org.uk|title=Home|publisher=Love Myland|access-date=22 December 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303204010/http://www.lovemyland.org.uk/|archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref> At the time of the [[2011 United Kingdom census]]<!-- Note that the 178000 population reported in 2011 is for the borough: the subject of this article is the town, so it is not appropriate. It is linked in the demographics section below -->, Colchester and its surrounding built up area had a population of [[List of urban areas in England by population|121,859]], marking a considerable rise from the previous census and with considerable development since 2001 and ongoing building plans; it has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/england/8626127.stm|title=Concerns over 'fast-growing' town|date=16 April 2010|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> The local football team, Colchester United, moved into a [[Weston Homes Community Stadium|brand new stadium]] at Cuckoo Farm in 2008.

On 20 May 2022, it was announced that as part of the [[Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours]], what was then the [[Borough of Colchester]] would receive [[City status in the United Kingdom|city status]]. It was slated to receive the status formally by [[Letters patent (United Kingdom)|letters patent]] on 12 September 2022,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Record number of city status winners announced to celebrate Platinum Jubilee|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/record-number-of-city-status-winners-announced-to-celebrate-platinum-jubilee|access-date=2022-05-21|website=Gov.uk|language=en}}</ref><ref name="City date2">{{Cite web|title=Revealed: When Colchester will officially be named a city (but we won't get a royal visit)|url=https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/20604150.colchester-city-status-set-made-official-september/|access-date=2022-08-17|website=Gazette|date=8 August 2022|language=en}}</ref> however following the [[death of Queen Elizabeth II]], the ceremony was postponed.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2022-09-09|title=Queen Elizabeth II: Colchester city status ceremony plans postponed|language=en-GB|publisher=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-62851159|access-date=2022-09-19}}</ref> On 29 September 2022, the letters patent was made public, with Colchester receiving city status dated 5 September 2022 by the late Queen.<ref name="Crown Office-2022" /> Colchester officially received city status on 23 November 2022.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Colchester City Council|url=https://www.colchester.gov.uk/city-status/|access-date=2023-04-23|website=colchester.gov.uk|language=en-US}}</ref> Colchester was visited by [[Charles III|King Charles III]] on 7 March 2023, in order to congratulate Colchester on receiving city status.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2023-03-07|title=King Charles and Camilla visit Colchester to mark city status|language=en-GB|publisher=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-64875029|access-date=2023-06-11}}</ref>

==Climate==
{{Main|Climate of the United Kingdom}}
Colchester is in one of the driest regions of the United Kingdom with average annual precipitation at {{convert|635|mm|in|1|abbr=in}}, although among the wetter places in Essex. Colchester is generally regarded as having an [[Oceanic climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]] ''Cfb'') like the rest of the United Kingdom. Its easterly position within the British Isles makes Colchester less prone to Atlantic depressions and weather fronts but more prone to droughts. This is because, like most areas in the south-east of England, Colchester's weather is influenced more by continental weather patterns than by Atlantic weather systems. This leads to a dry climate compared to the rest of the UK all year round and occasional (relative) extremes of temperatures during the year (occasional high 20&nbsp;°Cs/low 30&nbsp;°Cs during the summer) and quite a few nights below freezing during the winter months (daytime high temperatures are seldom below freezing). Any rainfall that does come from Atlantic weather systems is usually light, but a few heavy showers and [[thunderstorm]]s can take place during the summer. Snow falls on average 13 days a year during winter and early spring.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}

The highest temperature recorded in Colchester was {{convert|39.0|°C|0|abbr=on}} in July 2022 (during the 2022 European heatwaves), and the lowest was {{convert|-9.4|°C|0|abbr=on}} in December 2010.
{{Weather box
|location = Colchester
|metric first = Yes
|single line = Yes
|Jan high C = 7
|Feb high C = 7.7
|Mar high C = 10.9
|Apr high C = 14.2
|May high C = 18
|Jun high C = 20.6
|Jul high C = 23.4
|Aug high C = 23.3
|Sep high C = 19.9
|Oct high C = 15
|Nov high C = 10.3
|Dec high C = 7.4
|year high C = 
|Jan mean C = 4.5
|Feb mean C = 4.7
|Mar mean C = 7.1
|Apr mean C = 10.9
|May mean C = 12.8
|Jun mean C = 15.6
|Jul mean C = 18.3
|Aug mean C = 18.1
|Sep mean C = 15.4
|Oct mean C = 11.5
|Nov mean C = 7.5
|Dec mean C = 5
|Year mean C =
|Jan low C = 2
|Feb low C = 1.7
|Mar low C = 3.3
|Apr low C = 4.7
|May low C = 7.7
|Jun low C = 10.7
|Jul low C = 13.2
|Aug low C = 13
|Sep low C = 10.9
|Oct low C = 8.1
|Nov low C = 4.8
|Dec low C = 2.7
|year low C = 
|Jan precipitation mm = 53
|Feb precipitation mm = 44
|Mar precipitation mm = 44
|Apr precipitation mm = 44
|May precipitation mm = 52
|Jun precipitation mm = 54
|Jul precipitation mm = 48
|Aug precipitation mm = 57
|Sep precipitation mm = 52
|Oct precipitation mm = 70
|Nov precipitation mm = 62
|Dec precipitation mm = 57
|year precipitation mm = 
|source 1 = 1981–2010 estimated average (records began in 1988) for COL station Colchester NE 2
}}

==Garrison {{anchor|MCTC}}==
{{Main|Colchester Garrison}}

[[File:MCTC Colchester - geograph.org.uk - 63934.jpg|thumb|right|The military corrective training centre]]Colchester has been an important military garrison since the [[Roman Britain|Roman]] era. The [[Colchester Garrison]] is currently home to the [[16th Air Assault Brigade (United Kingdom)|16th Air Assault Brigade]]. The Army's only military corrective training centre, known colloquially within the forces and locally as "[[Glasshouse (British Army)|The Glasshouse]]" after the original military prison in [[Aldershot]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www3.hants.gov.uk/museum/aldershot-museum/local-history-aldershot/glasshouse-aldershot.htm|title=The Glasshouse&nbsp;– The Aldershot Military Detention Barracks|publisher=[[Hampshire County Council]]|access-date=7 November 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202122126/http://www3.hants.gov.uk/museum/aldershot-museum/local-history-aldershot/glasshouse-aldershot.htm|archive-date=2 December 2008}}</ref> is in Berechurch Hall Road, on the outskirts of Colchester.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.army.mod.uk/provost/staff/2157.aspx|title=Military Corrective Training Centre|publisher=British Army|access-date=7 November 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208233323/http://www.army.mod.uk/provost/staff/2157.aspx|archive-date=8 December 2008}}</ref> The centre holds men and women from all three services who are sentenced to serve periods of [[detention (imprisonment)|detention]].

From 1998 to 2008, the garrison area underwent massive redevelopment. A lot of the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] land was sold for private housing development and parts of the garrison were moved. Many parts of the garrison now stand empty awaiting the second phase of the development.

Since 2006, Colchester has been one of 12 places in the UK where [[21-gun salute#United Kingdom|Royal Salutes]] are fired to mark Royal anniversaries and visits by foreign heads of state. From 2009, these salutes have taken place in Castle Park.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.colchester.gov.uk/news_det.asp?art_id=8141&sec_id=27|title=Honour of Royal Salute switches to Colchester town centre&nbsp;– Colc|publisher=Colchester.gov.uk|access-date=17 January 2010}}{{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

[[BFBS]] Radio broadcasts from studios on the base on 107.0FM as part of its UK Bases network.

==Governance==
{{Main|Mayor of Colchester|Colchester (UK Parliament constituency)|Colchester local elections}}
[[File:Colchester Town Hall.jpg|thumb|[[Colchester Town Hall]]]]
There are two main tiers of local government covering Colchester, at [[non-metropolitan district|district]] and [[non-metropolitan county|county]] level: [[Colchester City Council]] and [[Essex County Council]]. Most of the built up area is [[Unparished area|unparished]], but there are two [[civil parish]]es covering outer parts of it, at [[Myland]] to the north and [[Stanway, Essex|Stanwway]] to the west.<ref name=electionmaps>{{cite web |title=Election Maps |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/index.html |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref> The city council meets at [[Colchester Town Hall]] and has its main offices at Rowan House at 33 Sheepen Road.<ref name=bho>{{cite web|first1=A. P. |last1=Baggs |first2=Beryl |last2=Board|first3=Philip|last3= Crummy|first4=Claude |last4=Dove|first5=Shirley|last5= Durgan|first6= N. R. |last6=Goose|first7= R. B.|last7= Pugh|first8=Pamela|last8= Studd |first9=C. C.|last9= Thornton|title= 'Municipal buildings', in A History of the County of Essex: Volume 9, the Borough of Colchester, ed. Janet Cooper and C R Elrington |location=London|year=1994|pages=274–277|publisher=British History Online |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol9/pp274-277 |access-date= 11 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Our buildings and fleet vehicles |url=https://www.colchester.gov.uk/sustainability/buildings-fleet-vehicles/ |website=Colchester City Council |access-date=29 May 2025}}</ref>

For national elections, most of the area forms part of the [[Colchester (UK Parliament constituency)|Colchester constituency]], although some south-eastern suburbs fall within the [[Harwich and North Essex (UK Parliament constituency)|Harwich and North Essex constituency]].<ref name=electionmaps/> The Member of Parliament for the Colchester constituency is [[Pam Cox]] of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]].

===Administrative history===
Colchester was an [[ancient borough]] with urban forms of local government from [[Saxon]] times. [[Burgess (title)|Burgesses]] were already established by the time of the [[Domesday]] survey of 1086. The earliest known borough charter dates from 1189, but that charter appears to confirm pre-existing borough rights rather than being the foundation of a new borough.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Cooper |editor1-first=Janet |editor2-last=Elrington |editor2-first=C. R. |title=A History of the County of Essex: Volume 9, the Borough of Colchester |date=1994 |publisher=Victoria County History |location=London |pages=48–57 |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol9/pp48-57 |access-date=4 June 2023 |chapter=Medieval Colchester: Borough government}}</ref> By the 14th century the borough covered sixteen [[ancient parish|parishes]]. Twelve of the parishes were named after Colchester's medieval parish churches in and around the walled town, and the other four ([[Berechurch]], Greenstead, [[Lexden]] and [[Myland]]) were described as the "outlying parishes", covering areas that were more peripheral or suburban to the main part of the town as it then was.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Cooper |editor1-first=Janet |editor2-last=Elrington |editor2-first=C. R. |title=A History of the County of Essex: Volume 9 |date=1994 |publisher=Victoria County History |location=London |page=1 |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol9/p1 |access-date=26 October 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Parliamentary Papers: Volume 26 |date=1837 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Parliamentary_Papers/iEwSAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PP341&printsec=frontcover |access-date=25 October 2025 |chapter=Municipal Corporation Boundaries (England and Wales): Colchester}}</ref>

Several charters were granted to the borough over time amending how it operated. A 1635 charter from [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] gave the right to appoint a [[High Steward of Colchester]]. It is now essentially an honorary post. The current high steward is the former MP, Liberal Democrat [[Bob Russell (British politician)|Sir Bob Russell]], appointed in 2015.<ref>{{cite web |title=High Steward |url=https://www.colchester.gov.uk/high-steward/ |website=Colchester City Council |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref>

The borough was reformed in 1836 to become a [[municipal borough]] under the [[Municipal Corporations Act 1835]], which standardised the way most boroughs operated across the country.<ref>{{cite web |title=Colchester Municipal Borough |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10166767 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=4 June 2023}}</ref> All the civil parishes within the borough were united into a single parish matching the borough in 1897. The borough boundaries, which had been unchanged since the 14th century, saw some relatively minor adjustments in 1934.<ref>{{cite web |title=Colchester parish |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10237040 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10166767|title=Colchester Municipal Borough|publisher=[[A Vision of Britain through Time]]|accessdate=3 October 2025}}</ref>

The municipal borough was abolished in 1974 under the [[Local Government Act 1972]]. The area merged with the surrounding [[Lexden and Winstree Rural District]] and the two [[Urban district (England and Wales)|urban districts]] of [[West Mersea]] and [[Wivenhoe]] to become a new [[non-metropolitan district]] with [[Borough status in the United Kingdom|borough status]] called Colchester.<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972|year=1972|number=2039|access-date=31 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973|year=1973|number=551|access-date=31 May 2023}}</ref><ref name="hans74">{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1974/mar/28/district-councils-and-boroughs#S5CV0871P0_19740328_CWA_145|title=District Councils and Boroughs|date=28 March 1974|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|access-date=16 January 2012}}</ref>

[[File:Colchester unparished area UK locator map.svg|thumb|The [[unparished area]] (red) within the modern district. The unparished area broadly corresponds to the pre-1974 borough, minus the new parish of Myland to the north which was created in 1999.]]
The area of the pre-1974 borough was left unparished as a result of the 1974 reforms. A new civil parish called [[Myland]] was subsequently created in 1999 from part of the area of the pre-1974 borough.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Colchester (Parish) Order 1999 |url=https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20221202003603mp_/https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/lgbce/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/12565/the-colchester-parish-order-1999.pdf |website=Local Government Boundary Commission for England |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=25 October 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/reg/districts/colchester.html|title=Colchester Registration District|publisher=UKBMD|accessdate=3 October 2025}}</ref> [[Stanway, Essex|Stanway]] to the west was not part of the pre-1974 borough, but the urban area has grown into Stanway parish and the [[Office for National Statistics]] now classes Stanway as part of the Colchester built up area.<ref name=BUA21/>

==Demography==
{{further|City of Colchester#Demography}}

==Culture==

===Museums===
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 (English politician)|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecolchesterarchaeologist.co.uk/?p=13531|title=We celebrate – Roman circus site, centre and cafe re-open, with cakes! {{pipe}} the Colchester Archaeologist|access-date=2014-07-22|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913053413/http://www.thecolchesterarchaeologist.co.uk/?p=13531|archive-date=13 September 2014}}. Retrieved 22 July 2014</ref> In 2014 brick and marble columns from the monumental façade of the precinct of the [[Temple of Claudius, Colchester|Temple of Claudius]] were discovered behind the High Street, with plans to make them visible to the public.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecolchesterarchaeologist.co.uk/?p=13902|title=The Trust's investigation of Roman arcade in local press|work=The Colchester Archaeologist |date=25 July 2014|access-date=2016-11-01|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316151857/http://www.thecolchesterarchaeologist.co.uk/?p=13902|archive-date=16 March 2017}}. Retrieved 26 July 2014</ref>

===Arts===
<!-- linked to from commons image -->
[[File:Anne Schwegmann-Fielding, Balkerne Star, Colchester, 2006.jpg|thumb|'Balkerne Star' designed by [[Anne Schwegmann-Fielding]], Balkerne Heights, Colchester – made in 2006 and inspired by a Roman mosaic flooring found in Colchester]]
Opened in 1972, the [[Mercury Theatre, Colchester|Mercury Theatre]] is a repertory theatre. Located nearby is [[Colchester Arts Centre]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.colchesterartscentre.com/|title=Current Events|publisher=Colchester Arts Centre|access-date=17 January 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100122142120/http://www.colchesterartscentre.com/|archive-date=22 January 2010}}</ref> a multi-function arts venue located in the former St Mary-at-the-Walls church, and home of the Colchester Beer Festival. The Headgate Theatre is also located in Colchester.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.visitcolchester.com/listing/headgate-theatre/119058101/|title=Headgate Theatre|website=www.visitcolchester.com}}</ref>

[[Firstsite]] is a contemporary art organisation, based in the Visual Arts Facility, which was designed by [[Rafael Viñoly]], and opened in September 2011, at a total cost of approximately £25.5&nbsp;million, £9&nbsp;million more than the original estimate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/3856238.Colchester____2m_more_to_finish_off_new_art_gallery/|title=Colchester: £2 m more to finish off new art gallery (From Gazette)|publisher=Gazette-news.co.uk|date=18 November 2008|access-date=17 January 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629012846/http://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/3856238.Colchester____2m_more_to_finish_off_new_art_gallery/|archive-date=29 June 2009}}</ref>

[[The Minories, Colchester|The Minories]] houses The Minories Galleries, which is managed by Colchester Institute and presents contemporary exhibitions by artists from the region. The building is owned by the Victor Batte-Lay Foundation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.colchester.ac.uk/art/minories/|title=The Minories Galleries|publisher=Colchester-Institute|access-date=6 November 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111103108/http://www.colchester.ac.uk/art/minories/|archive-date=11 November 2013}}</ref>

There are several bars with live music.

In 2009, an art collective called 'Slack Space' took up some of the closed-down shops in the centre and converted them into art galleries with the hope of promoting art and design. The Colchester School of Art, opened in 1885, is based in the [[Colchester Institute]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Colchester School of Art|publisher=[[Colchester Institute]]|url=https://www.colchester.ac.uk/colchester-school-of-art/|access-date=2020-12-30|quote=At Colchester School of Art we are proud to have a history dating from 1885, the year the original Art School was founded.}}</ref> near the centre.

A film festival, showcasing a selection of new feature and short films from around the world and centred at the VAF, was held from to 2012 to 2017 (excluding 2016). 
There are 12 cinema screens spread across the 8 screen Odeon, 3 screen Curzon and 1 screen in the firstsite gallery.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

===Sport===
Local links with [[association football|football]] began with the amateur club [[Colchester Town F.C.|Colchester Town]], which was formed in 1867 and dissolved in 1937. They were succeeded by professional club [[Colchester United F.C.|Colchester United]], who compete in [[Football League Two]] (as of season 2023–24) and play home games at [[Colchester Community Stadium]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Club Records|url=https://www.cu-fc.com/news/2017/may/club-records/|access-date=2023-09-30|website=cu-fc.com|language=en-gb}}</ref> Founded in 1937, the club entered the [[English Football League|Football League]] in 1950,<ref>{{Cite web|title=The 1950s and 1960s|url=https://www.cu-fc.com/news/2012/july/the-1950s-and-1960s/|access-date=2023-09-30|website=cu-fc.com|language=en-gb}}</ref> originally playing home games at their former [[Layer Road]] stadium until 2008.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The 1990s and 2000s|url=https://www.cu-fc.com/news/2013/august/the-1990s-and-2000s/|access-date=2023-09-30|website=cu-fc.com|language=en-gb}}</ref> The club reached its highest league finish of 10th place in the [[EFL Championship|Championship]] in [[2006–07 Colchester United F.C. season|2006–07]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Championship (Sky Sports)|url=https://www.skysports.com/championship-table/2006|access-date=2023-09-30|publisher=Sky Sports|language=en}}</ref> and were one of the few teams to win the [[Watney Cup]], in 1971.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-08-07|title=50 years on...when Colchester United defied all the odds to lift silverware|url=https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/sport/19490931.colchester-united-won-watney-cup-day-1971/|access-date=2023-09-30|website=Gazette|language=en}}</ref>

Other sports teams based in the area include Colchester United Women Football Club, Colchester School of Gymnastics, Colchester Rugby Football Club, Colchester Swimming Club, Colchester Gladiators American Football Club, Colchester Weight Lifting Club, Colchester Powerlifting Club (ColPower) and Colchester & East Essex Cricket Club. [[Essex County Cricket Club]] play some of their home games at [[Castle Park Cricket Ground]], home of Colchester & East Essex.

Sports facilities in Colchester include Colchester Leisure World, [[Colchester Garrison]] Athletics Stadium (a co-operative facility used by both the army and civilian population) and a [[skatepark]].

===Media===
Local news and television programmes are provided by [[BBC East]] and [[ITV Anglia]] from the [[Sudbury transmitting station|Sudbury]] TV transmitter. The city's local radio stations are [[BBC Essex]] on 103.5 FM, [[Heart East]] on 96.1 FM, [[Greatest Hits Radio East]] on 100.2 FM and [[Actual Radio]] which broadcast online. The local newspapers are [[Daily Gazette (Colchester)|Colchester Gazette]], [[Essex County Standard]] and [[East Anglian Daily Times]].

===Other===
The commercial centre is home to upmarket department store [[Fenwick (department store)|Fenwick]] (still referred to by locals by its former name of Williams & Griffin (Willie Gees)), Primark, H&M, Boots, WH Smith and many local independent stores.

==Landmarks==
=== Colchester War Memorial ===
Colchester suffered in the [[World War I|First World War]], losing some 1,248 in the conflict.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Paul.|first=Rusiecki|title=The impact of catastrophe : the people of Essex and the First World War (1914–1920)|date=2008|publisher=ERO, Essex Record Office|isbn=978-1-898529-28-6|oclc=311779558}}</ref> 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.<ref>Report of the memorial hall and Albert School Site sub-committee (undated) no. I, Essex Records Office</ref> The committee formed to choose a proposal decided on a sculptural monument on 16 May 1919 with a vote of 7 to 9.<ref>Minutes of the war memorial executive committee (16 May 1919) Essex Records Office</ref> Following a visit to the [[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Academy]]'s War Memorial Exhibition,<ref name="auto">{{Cite book|author=Hunt, Edgar A.|title=The Colchester war memorial souvenir.|date=1923|oclc=37304283}}</ref> the sculptor [[Henry Charles Fehr]] was chosen to undertake the work, for which he was paid £3,000.<ref>Minutes of the War Memorial Executive Committee (4 January 1921) Essex Records Office</ref> 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 (mythology)|Nike]].<ref name="auto"/>

===Roman walls===
{{See also|Camulodunum#Walls}}
[[File:The Roman Town Wall, East Hill to Queen Street 2.JPG|thumb|right|upright=1.3|A surviving stretch of the Roman Town Wall in East Hill]]
Construction of the walls of Colchester took place between 65 and 80 [[AD]], shortly after the destruction of the undefended ''[[Colonia (Roman)|colonia]]'' by Boudicca, and they continued in use until after the Siege of Colchester in 1648. Two large stretches of the wall are still standing on the west and north sides and a number of fragments are visible along the rest of the circuit. A notable survival is the [[Balkerne Gate]], which is the earliest and most complete Roman gateway in the United Kingdom. A circular walk of nearly {{convert|2|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} follows the course of the wall and the surviving portions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.walkcolchester.org.uk/assets/r/o/romanwalls_100815.pdf|title=Walk Colchester – A Guide to Colchester's Roman Wall|website=Walkcolchester.org.uk|access-date=2 November 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091859/http://www.walkcolchester.org.uk/assets/r/o/romanwalls_100815.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref>

==="Jumbo" water tower===
{{Main|Jumbo Water Tower}}
[[File:Jumbo Water Tower, Colchester, Essex, UK photographed by Ritchie Hicks.jpg|thumb|right|The Balkerne Water Tower or "Jumbo", viewed from the [[Balkerne Gate]]]]
Completed in 1883 when the Town Council took over Colchester's water supply, the {{convert|110|ft|m|adj=on|abbr=off}} [[water tower]] was originally called the "Balkerne Water Tower",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101123669-municipal-water-tower-jumbo-colchester|title=Municipal Water Tower (Jumbo), Colchester|publisher=British Listed Buildings|access-date=6 January 2020}}</ref> but soon became known as "[[Jumbo]]" because of its large size, which prompted the addition of an elephant-shaped [[weather vane]] at its peak. The tower was decommissioned in 1987 and has had several private owners pending redevelopment.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-27641267|title=Colchester's 'Jumbo' water tower bought by poultry farmer|publisher=BBC News|date=30 May 2014|access-date=2 November 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117210014/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-27641267|archive-date=17 November 2015}}</ref>

===Colchester Town Hall===
{{Main|Colchester Town Hall}}
The town hall is built on the site of the original [[moot hall]], first recorded in 1277 and demolished in 1843. Replacing a Victorian town hall which had become unstable,<ref name="Cooper-274-277">{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol9/pp274-277|title=A History of the County of Essex: Volume 9, the Borough of Colchester – Municipal buildings, Pages 274–277|editor-last1=Cooper|editor-first1=Janet|editor-last2=Elrington|editor-first2=C R|year=1994|website=british-history.ac.uk|publisher=British History Online – University of London|access-date=30 September 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002100235/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol9/pp274-277|archive-date=2 October 2016}}</ref> work on the present building started in 1897 to the design of [[John Belcher (architect)|John Belcher]] in the [[Edwardian Baroque]] style,<ref name ="Pevsner276">{{cite book|last1=Bettley|first1=James|last2=Pevsner|first2=Nicholas|date=2007|title=Essex: Buildings of England Series|publisher=Yale University Press|pages=276–277|isbn=978-0300116144}}</ref> and was opened in 1902 by former [[prime minister of the United Kingdom|prime minister]], the [[Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery|Earl of Rosebery]].<ref name ="Cooper"/> The building dominates the High Street and the 192-foot (58.5-metre) Victoria Tower is widely visible. The tower was intended to commemorate the [[Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria]] and was funded by a donation from [[James Noah Paxman]], the founder of [[Davey, Paxman & Co]]. It features four [[allegorical figure]]s by [[L J Watts]] representing engineering, military defence, agriculture and fishery.<ref name ="Pevsner276"/> At the top of the tower is a large bronze figure representing Saint Helena (the [[patron saint]] of Colchester) holding the True Cross; a local story says that a councillor was dispatched to Italy to find a statue of the saint, but could only find one of the [[Virgin Mary]], which then had to be modified locally.<ref>{{cite book|last=Denney|first=Patrick|date=2006|title=Round About Colchester: Exploring Local History With the East Anglian Daily Times|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QrvAr0Bp6NAC&q=Colchester+statue+of+saint+helena+%22virgin+mary%22&pg=PA42|publisher=Wharncliffe Books|page=42|isbn=978-1845630058|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002011701/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=QrvAr0Bp6NAC&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=Colchester+statue+of+saint+helena+%22virgin+mary%22&source=bl&ots=WVQ83TWj1G&sig=9svjPGmBTrcTsQWTY8471s2Emw4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwib9Nat8bfPAhUHKx4KHUkqAe8Q6AEIHjAB|archive-date=2 October 2016}}</ref>

==Education==
===Secondary education===
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, Colchester|St Helena School]], [[St Benedict's Catholic College]], [[Thomas Lord Audley School]], Paxman Academy and Trinity School.

===Private schools===
Private schools in Colchester include [[St Mary's School, Colchester|St. Mary's School]], Oxford House School and [[Colchester High School]].

===Tertiary===
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]]. Colchester also has an [[Adult Community Learning|ACL]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://aclessex.com/|title=Home|website=ACL Essex}}</ref>

==Transport==
{{Main|Transport in Colchester}}

===Buses===
Colchester's bus services are operated primarily by [[First Essex]] and [[Arriva Colchester]], as well as by [[Hedingham & Chambers]], Beeston's, [[Ipswich Buses]], [[Stephensons of Essex]] and Panther Travel (Essex). The bus station is located in Osborne Street, on the southern edge of the centre.<ref>{{Cite web |website=Bus Times |title=Colchester Bus Services |access-date=17 March 2025 |url=https://bustimes.org/localities/colchester}}</ref>

The [[Colchester Rapid Transit|Colchester Rapid Transit System]] is a [[Bus rapid transit|bus rapid transport line]] whiich, as of October 2025, is overdue for completion from its late 2024 schedule, and is now not envisaged to open until there is occupied housing at the [[Tendring Colchester Border Community]]. The project will be the first such system in Essex and will be operated by [[First Essex]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.essexhighways.org/highway-schemes-and-developments/highway-schemes/colchester-schemes/colchester-rapid-transit |title=Colchester Rapid Transit |website=Essex Highways |date=11 March 2025 |access-date=17 March 2025}}</ref>

===Railway===
 	
[[Colchester Town railway station|Colchester Town]] and [[Hythe (Essex) railway station|Hythe]] stations are on the [[Sunshine Coast Line]] operated by [[Greater Anglia (train operating company)|Greater Anglia]], and linked to the rest of the network via the [[Great Eastern Main Line]] at [[Colchester railway station|Colchester North station]], which lies just outside this area.

===Roads===
Colchester is linked to [[London]] and [[East Anglia]] by the [[A12 road (England)|A12]], which bypasses the town to the north and east; it is the region's main trunk route. The [[A120 road|A120]] connects Colchester with [[Harwich]] in the east,  and with [[Stansted Airport]] and the [[M11 motorway]] in the west.

===Port===
Colchester was historically a port, with a regular weekly shipping service to London by 1637; about 3,000 vessels per year using the port in 1892.<ref>{{cite web |title=Colchester and the Thames Estuary |url=https://catuk.org/colchester-and-the-thames-estuary/ |publisher=Colchester Archaeological Trust |access-date=10 July 2023 |date=18 September 2016}}</ref> 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).<ref>{{cite web |title=Colchester |url=https://ports.org.uk/port.asp?id=80 |website=ports.org.uk |access-date=10 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Colchester |url=https://www.fleetmon.com/ports/colchester_gbcol_5865/?language=en |publisher=FleetMon |access-date=10 July 2023}}</ref>

==References in literature==
The [[Roman Empire|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.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annales'', XIV, 31</ref>

[[John Morris (historian)|John Morris]] suggested that the name [[Camelot]] of Arthurian legend was probably a reference to [[Camulodunum]], the capital of [[Roman Britain|Britannia]] in Roman times.<ref>J. Morris, ''The Age of Arthur: A History of the British Isles from 350 to 650'', 3 vols (Phillimore: Chichester, 1977), I, p. 138</ref>

It is the only town in Britain to have been explicitly mentioned in [[George Orwell]]'s 1949 novel ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'' as being the target of a [[nuclear warfare|nuclear attack]] during the (fictional) Atomic Wars of the 1950s.

==In popular culture==
{{In popular culture|section|date=February 2019}} 
Colchester is reputed to be the home of three of the best known English nursery rhymes: '[[Old King Cole]]', '[[Humpty Dumpty]]' and '[[Twinkle Twinkle Little Star|Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star]]', although in the cases of the former two, the legitimacy is disputed.<ref name=Cooper/>

Local legend places Colchester as the seat of [[King Cole]] (or Coel) of the rhyme ''Old King Cole'', a legendary ancient king of Britain. The name Colchester is from [[Latin]]: the place-name suffixes ''chester'', ''cester'', and ''caster'' derive from the Latin word ''[[castrum]]'' (fortified place). In folk etymology the name Colchester was thought of as meaning Cole's Castle {{who|date=August 2017}}, though this theory does not have academic support. In the legend Helena, the daughter of Cole, married the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[senator]] [[Constantius Chlorus]], who had been sent by Rome as an ambassador and was named as Cole's successor. Helena's son became Emperor [[Constantine I]]. Helena was canonised as [[Saint]] [[Helena of Constantinople]] and is credited with finding the [[True Cross]] and the remains of [[Biblical Magi|the Magi]]. She is now the patron saint of Colchester. This is recognised in the emblem of Colchester: a cross and three crowns. The Mayor's medallion contains a Byzantine style icon of Saint Helena. A local secondary school&nbsp;– St Helena's&nbsp;– is named after her, and her statue is atop the town hall, although local legend is that it was originally a statue of Blessed Virgin Mary which was later fitted with a cross.

Colchester is a widely credited source{{citation needed|date=December 2011}} of the rhyme [[Humpty Dumpty]]. During the siege of Colchester in the Civil War, a Royalist sniper known as One-Eyed Thompson sat in the belfry of the church of St Mary-at-the-Walls (''Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall'') and was given the nickname Humpty Dumpty, most likely because of his size, ''Humpty Dumpty'' being a common insult for the overweight. Thompson was shot down (''Humpty Dumpty had a great fall'') and, shortly after, the town was lost to the Parliamentarians (''all the king's horses and all the king's men / couldn't put Humpty together again.'') Another version says that Humpty Dumpty was a cannon on the top of the church. The church of St Mary-at-the-Walls still retains its Norman tower until the top few feet, which are a Georgian repair.

The third rhyme said to have come from Colchester is [[Twinkle Twinkle Little Star]], which was written by [[Jane Taylor (poet)|Jane Taylor]] who lived in the Dutch Quarter, and published in 1806 with the title "The Star". In 2024, a statue sculpted by Mandy Pratt that shows Taylor and her sister Ann was unveiled in Colchester High Street,<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2024-06-06 |title=Twinkle Star Statue – Essex Heritage Trust |url=http://www.essexheritagetrust.co.uk/twinkle-star-statue/ |access-date=2025-02-17 |language=en-GB}}</ref> following a campaign by Sir Bob Russell. 

Colchester has also been suggested as one of the potential sites of [[Camelot]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Nash Ford|first=David|title=Early British Kingdoms: Colchester|url=http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/archaeology/colchester.html|access-date=25 April 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211112608/http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/archaeology/colchester.html|archive-date=11 February 2012}}</ref> on account of having been the capital of Roman Britain and its ancient name of ''Camulodunum'': this is not considered likely by academics, as in Arthurian times Colchester was under Saxon control.

The first part of [[Daniel Defoe]]'s 1722 novel ''[[Moll Flanders]]'' was set in Colchester.<ref name=Cooper/>

Colchester was also a named line of [[lathe]] machinery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lathes.co.uk/colchester/index.html|title=As detailed here|publisher=Lathes.co.uk|access-date=22 December 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101102004031/http://www.lathes.co.uk/colchester/index.html|archive-date=2 November 2010}}</ref>

In the 1949 book ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'', Colchester was the scene of a [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear]] [[Nuclear explosion|detonation]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abhaf.org/assets/books/html/1984/23.html|title=George Orwell - 1984|website=www.abhaf.org}}</ref>

The ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episodes ''[[The Lodger (Doctor Who)|The Lodger]]'' and ''[[Closing Time (Doctor Who)|Closing Time]]'' are set in Colchester, although they were filmed in [[Cardiff]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Matt Wales|url=http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/109/1096927p1.html|title=IGN review|publisher=ign.com|date=14 June 2010|access-date=22 December 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617223502/http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/109/1096927p1.html|archive-date=17 June 2010}}</ref>

In the 1966 [[Asterix]] comic book ''[[Asterix in Britain]]'' the [[Camulodunum]] rugby team wins a game against [[Durovernum]] (Roman name for [[Canterbury]]).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Goscinny|first1=René|last2=Underzo|first2=Albert|title=Asterix in Britain|series=Asterix #3|year=1973|publisher=Hodder Dargaud|isbn=0-340-17221-5|page=38}}</ref> The kit worn during the match in the book is similar to that of [[Colchester United]].

Colchester appears in the 2020 video game ''[[Assassin's Creed Valhalla]]'', recreated as it was in the early medieval period.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Colchester's Viking past is stunningly recreated in Assassin's Creed Valhalla|url=https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/19015000.colchester-recreated-ubisofts-assassins-creed-valhalla/|access-date=2022-09-01|website=Gazette|date=15 January 2021|language=en}}</ref>

==Colcestrians==
{{More citations needed|section|date=February 2021}}
People of note that have lived in Colchester include:

*[[Cunobelin]] (died before 43 AD), [[King of the Britons]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cunobelinus|title=Cunobelinus {{pipe}} Celtic King, Iron Age, Britain {{pipe}} Britannica|date=1 January 2023|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=6 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230223203833/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cunobelinus|archive-date=23 February 2023|url-status=live}}</ref>
*[[Eudo Dapifer]] (died 1120), oversaw the building of Colchester Castle and was its first steward.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1002217?section=official-list-entry|title=Colchester Castle and the Temple of Claudius, Non Civil Parish – 1002217 {{pipe}} Historic England|access-date=6 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906160458/https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1002217?section=official-list-entry|archive-date=6 September 2023|url-status=live}}</ref>
*[[John Ball (priest)|John Ball]] (died 1381), leader of the [[Peasants' Revolt]] of 1381<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.colchestercivicsociety.co.uk/what-we-do/commemorative-plaques/john-ball/|title=John Ball {{pipe}} Colchester Civic Society|access-date=6 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528191357/https://www.colchestercivicsociety.co.uk/what-we-do/commemorative-plaques/john-ball/|archive-date=28 May 2022|url-status=live}}</ref>
*[[Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden|Thomas Audley]] (1488–1544), Lord Chancellor of England 1533–44, founder of [[Magdalene College, Cambridge]]<ref>{{ODNBweb|id=896|title=Audley, Thomas, Baron Audley of Walden (1487/8–1544), lord chancellor|first=L.L.|last=Ford}}</ref>
*[[John Beche]] (died 1539), last abbot of [[St John's Abbey, Colchester]]<ref>Ashdown-Hill, John (2009) Mediaeval Colchester's Lost Landmarks. Published by The Breedon Books Publishing Company Limited. ({{ISBN|978-1-85983-686-6}})</ref>
*[[William Gilbert (astronomer)|William Gilbert]] (1544–1603), scientist, pioneer in the field of [[magnetism]] and court physician to [[Elizabeth I]] and [[James VI and I|James I]]<ref>{{acad|id=GLBT558W|name=Gilbert, William}}</ref>
*[[Samuel Harsnett]] (1561–1631), writer and [[Archbishop of York]]<ref name="london">{{cite book|title=London, Being an Accurate History and Description|url=https://archive.org/details/londonbeinganac01hughgoog|first1=David|last1=Hughson|pages=293–4|year=1809|publisher=W. Stratford|first2=William|last2=Stratford|first3=J.|last3=Stratford}}</ref>
*[[Rose Thurgood]] (born 1602) religious writer, [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformist Protestant]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Baker |first=Naomi |title=Johnson, Cicely and Thurgood, Rose |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of English Renaissance Literature |volume=2 |date=2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R7UeL_0Pu3oC&pg=PA547 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=9781405194495 }}</ref>
*[[Charles Lucas]] (1613–1648), royalist soldier in the [[English Civil War]] and [[Siege of Colchester]]<ref>* {{cite odnb|last=Donagan|first=Barbara|title=Lucas, Sir Charles (1612/13–1648)|id=17123|year=2004}}</ref>
*[[Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne|Margaret Cavendish]] (1623–1673), poet, philosopher and early writer of science fiction
*[[Philip Morant]] (1700–1770), parish priest of [[Colchester churches#St Mary-at-the-Walls|St Mary-at-the-Walls]], author of ''The History & Antiquities of the County of Essex''<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.aldham-church.co.uk/HistoryDetail.htm |title=Church History |access-date=2010-03-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903161245/http://www.aldham-church.co.uk/HistoryDetail.htm |archive-date=2011-09-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[Joseph Thurston (poet)|Joseph Thurston]] (born 1704) poet
*[[Susan Smythies]] (born 1720) story writer
*[[John Lawrence (writer)|John Lawrence]] (born 1753) writer; animal welfare and rights advocate
*[[Charles Abbot, 1st Baron Colchester|Charles Abbot]] (1757–1829), speaker of the House of Common and first Baron Colchester
*[[Ann Taylor (poet)|Ann Taylor]] (born 1782) poet
*[[Jane Taylor (poet)|Jane Taylor]] (1783–1824), poet and author of the lyrics to [[Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star]]
*[[William Hale (British inventor)|William Hale]] (1797–1870), early rocket engineer
*[[George Biddell Airy]] (1801–1892), [[Astronomer Royal]], attended [[Colchester Royal Grammar School]] 1814–1819
*[[Sir William Gull, 1st Baronet|William Gull]] (1816–1890), physician-in-ordinary to [[Queen Victoria]], and governor of [[Guy's Hospital]]
*[[Charles Spurgeon]] (1834–1892), [[Reformed Baptists|Particular Baptist]] preacher, known as the "Prince of Preachers"
*[[Thomas Miller Beach]], aka Henri Le Caron (1841–1894), spy, who did much to thwart the objectives of the [[Fenian Brotherhood|Fenians]]
*[[Laming Worthington-Evans]] (1868–1931), Secretary of State for War, and Postmaster General
*[[Archibald Wavell]] (1883–1950), senior army officer and the penultimate [[Viceroy of India]]
*[[Bernard Mason]] (1895–1981), businessman, philanthropist and clock collector
*[[Gerald Templer]] (1898–1979), army officer
*[[H. A. Morton Whitby]] (1898–1969) urologist, cancer researcher, surgeon
*[[Edgell Rickword]] (1898–1982), poet, critic
*[[Alfred Lungley]] (1905–1989), awarded the [[George Cross]] after the [[1935 Quetta earthquake|Quetta earthquake of 1935]]
*[[Hermann Arthur Jahn]] (1907–1979), scientist, discovered the [[Jahn-Teller effect]].
*[[Mary Whitehouse]] (1910–2001), Christian morality campaigner
*[[Cuthbert Alport, Baron Alport|Cuthbert Alport]] (1912–1998), cabinet Mminister, [[High Commissioner]] to the [[Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland]], and [[High Steward of Colchester]]
*[[Ken Aston]] (1915–2001), football referee, responsible for many important developments in football refereeing
*[[Margaret Thatcher]] (1925–2013), Prime Minister<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/essential/MT80.asp|title=MT at 80 {{pipe}} Margaret Thatcher Foundation|publisher=Margaretthatcher.org|access-date=17 January 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091013055634/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/essential/MT80.asp|archive-date=13 October 2009}}</ref>
*[[Klaus Kinski]] (1926–1991), actor and director, former German POW in Colchester during the World War II
*[[Roger Penrose]] (born 1931), mathematical physicist and philosopher
*[[Bob Russell (British politician)|Bob Russell]] (born 1946), MP for Colchester, High Steward of Colchester
*[[John Cooper Clarke]] (born 1949), performance poet<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/john-cooper-clarke-the-punk-poet-whose-time-has-come-again-8165968.html|title=John Cooper Clarke: The punk poet whose time has come again|first=Nick|last=Duerden|newspaper=The Independent|date=23 September 2012|access-date=24 June 2013}}</ref>
*[[Helen Mary Jones]] (born 1960), member of the Welsh Senedd (1993 to 2011 and 2018–2021)
*[[Neil Foster]] (born 1962), cricketer
*[[Tony Gardner]] (born 1964), actor<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-07-27|title=Horrible Histories role turns into dream part for Colchester's Tony|url=https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/17795661.horrible-histories-role-turns-dream-part-colchesters-tony-gardner/|access-date=2023-09-26|website=Gazette|language=en}}</ref>
*[[Dave Rowntree]] (born 1964), musician, drummer for [[Blur (band)|Blur]]
*[[Graham Coxon]] (born 1969), musician and [[Blur (band)|Blur]] lead guitarist
*[[Sue Son]] (born 1985) violinist
*[[Mark Felton]] (born 1974), author, historian, and [[YouTuber]].
*[[Stella Creasy]] (born 1977), MP for Walthamstow.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/Magazine/article1574880.ece|title=Relative Values: Stella Creasy and her mum, Corinna {{pipe}} The Sunday Times|website=[[The Sunday Times]]|date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304065324/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/Magazine/article1574880.ece|access-date=26 June 2022|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/aug/01/stella-creasy-mp-politics-twitter-tories|title=Stella Creasy: The MP who 'won't back down'|website=The Guardian|date=August 2013}}</ref>
*[[Will Quince]] (Born 1982), MP for Colchester

== Twin towns ==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in the United Kingdom}}

Colchester's [[Sister city|twin towns and sister cities]] are:<ref name="Colchester twinning">{{cite web|url=http://colchestertwinningsociety.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Nov-2012.pdf|title=Twin Town News – Colchester, Avignon, Imola and Wetzlar|last=Francis|first=Valerie|publisher=The Colchester Twinning Society|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304065258/http://colchestertwinningsociety.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Nov-2012.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016|access-date=22 July 2013}}</ref>

* [[Wetzlar]], Germany, since 1969<ref name="Colchester twinning" />
* [[Avignon]], France, since 1972<ref name="Colchester twinning" /><ref name="Archant twinning 2">{{cite web|url=http://www.completefrance.com/language-culture/twin-towns|title=British towns twinned with French towns ''[via WaybackMachine.com]''|work=Archant Community Media Ltd|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130705094933/http://www.completefrance.com/language-culture/twin-towns|archive-date=5 July 2013|access-date=12 July 2013}}</ref><ref name="Avignon jumelages">{{cite web|url=http://www.avignon.fr/fr/pratique/jumelage/ville.php|title=Jumelages et Relations Internationales – Avignon|work=Avignon.fr|language=fr|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130716104225/http://www.avignon.fr/fr/pratique/jumelage/ville.php|archive-date=16 July 2013|access-date=13 July 2013}}</ref><ref name="Avignon Ministère">{{cite web|url=http://www.cncd.fr/frontoffice/bdd-recherche-resultat.asp?searchField=avignon&x=70&y=21|title=Atlas français de la coopération décentralisée et des autres actions extérieures|work=Ministère des affaires étrangères|language=fr|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130226021826/http://www.cncd.fr/frontoffice/bdd-recherche-resultat.asp?searchField=avignon&x=70&y=21|archive-date=26 February 2013|access-date=13 July 2013}}</ref>
* [[Imola]], Italy, since 1997<ref name="Colchester twinning" />
* [[Yangzhou]], China, since 2015<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/essex-twin-towns-europe-world-4440396|title=Essex's twin towns across the world and how similar they are to each other|website=Essexlive.news|date=30 May 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/13638695.colchester-set-to-twin-with-yangzhou/|title=Town set to twin with Chinese City|website=Gazette-news.co.uk|date=2 September 2015}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Coat of arms of Colchester]]
*[[Baron Colchester]]
*[[Geography of the United Kingdom#Geology]]
*[[List of natural disasters in the British Isles (disambiguation)|List of natural disasters in the United Kingdom and preceding states]]
*[[Military history of the United Kingdom during World War II]]
*[[Churches in Colchester|Colchester churches]]
*[[Colchester power station]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons and category|Colchester}}
{{wikivoyage|Colchester (England)|Colchester}}
*[http://www.colchester.gov.uk/ Colchester Borough Council]

{{Colchester}}
{{Essex}}
{{UK cities}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Colchester| ]]
[[Category:Towns in Essex]]
[[Category:Cities in the East of England]]
[[Category:Coloniae (Roman)]]
[[Category:Former national capitals]]
[[Category:Market towns in Essex]]
[[Category:Ports and harbours of Essex]]
[[Category:Trading posts of the Hanseatic League]]
[[Category:Unparished areas in Essex]]
[[Category:Roman legionary fortresses in England]]
[[Category:Former civil parishes in Essex]]