Excursion to Colchester

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Colchester is one of the main stops on the way to Ipswich and Norwich. For a long time I had been curious about this town. Having heard that Colchester is one of the oldest cities in Britain, it made me even more intrigued – so we decided to visit there on 20 November.



The train brought us to Colchester by 45 minutes. We were greeted by the sculpture of the elephant, the symbol of this town. We then headed for the town centre following the yellow flags hoisted on the side of the roads. The steep route started after going past River Colne. There were a couple of well preserved, old-fashioned timber houses at the start of the riverside walk.



We reached the High Street. There were two sculptures of elephants which pointed the directions for station and castle. High Street was embellished with Christmas decorations.



We reached the entrance of the Castle Park and Colchester Castle.



We learnt that a settlement at Colchester was formed in the Iron Age, over 2000 years ago, and 11^th century, Colchester Castle was built by the William the Conqueror in 1076–1120. During the Roman period, Clavidio Basilica Temple was built – was the symbol of Roman Conqueror in Colchester. In the medieval period, the castle was used as gaol. Today, this historic castle houses a wealth collections of household items, coins, warriors, surgical equipment, skulls, medieval arts & craft works, part of sculptures and fringes attached on the interior and exterior of the original building, many of which have been excavated during the recent years’ archaeological projects. One of the highlight collections was figure of the Mercury, which was executed in the second century and is one of the finest bronze statues found in Britain. The figure was found by accident during the Second World War when a farmer by the name of Albert Beales was ploughing in a field at Gosbecks, an area of countryside where a Roman theatre and temple were located. The value of this figure wasn’t known until 1948, but has paid attention to the public ever since.



The historic castle also showed original features of the Norman Castle – we saw the garderobe: the toilet was simply a seat with a hole above a chute which dropped to an opening in the outside wall.



The post medieval period between 1550 and 1650 was one of great social and political change. It was the time new radical ideas about religion, politics and science were sweeping across Europe, overturning the medieval worldview and challenging many long held beliefs. While this brought about new opportunities, it also caused great upheaval as it threatened the established order. These turbulent times affected life of Colchester. There were pictures of victims of the civil wars and frequent outbreaks of the plague.



Afterwards, we popped in Hollytree Museum. This museum offered free admission and housed collections of costumes and everyday pieces of furniture and equipment used in the 19^th century.



After looking round two museums, we walked on the Castle Park. Many trees and shrubs showed autumn coloured leaves and they reflected on the pond and river. We also saw the Roman wall, which was constructed in the 2^nd or 3^rd century, and Roman Theatre, the part of which has been preserved in the modern semi-detached houses on the Meidenburgh Street.



We had refreshments at coffee shop near High Street, and then went back to home.

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