About Us - Riverside Hotel Riverside Hotel 2 North Station Road, Colchester, Essex Book your stay at a 17th century building in the heart of England's oldest town Need assistance? Location About Us The Riverside Hotel is a 17th Century, Grade 2 listed building. It was built in 1604 and has many original period features. The hotel is situated on the banks of the River Colne within England’s oldest recorded town, Colchester. The hotel is ideally situated a mere 5 minutes from both the town centre and the beautiful grounds of the Castle Park. Additionally the town’s main train station is only a 10-minute walk away. As such the hotel makes an excellent base for visitors who are visiting Colchester for either business or pleasure. We offer very competitive rates, and all our prices include use of the hotel car park as well an English breakfast for all guests. To make your reservation please use the form below or call us on +44 (0) 1206 500 200. We look forward to seeing you soon! Bus There are two bus stops very close to the hotel, both on North Station Road.

If you are heading towards the town, the closest stop is just outside the One Stop Supermarket. If you are travelling in the opposite direction there is a bus stop next to the HSBC bank. The walk to the hotel from either stop is around 1 minute. Train From Colchester's main station turn right onto North Station road. Continue across two roundabouts and you will shortly arrive at the hotel - it is a large red building on the bank of the river. The walk is approximately 10 minutes long. Our Address Colchester | Article about Colchester by The Free Dictionary Colchester | Article about Colchester by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Dictionary , Acronyms , Wikipedia . Colchester (kōl`chĭstər, –chĕs'tər), city (1991 pop. 87,476) and district, Essex, SE England, on the Colne River. The city is a grain and cattle market. The oyster fisheries of the Colne are important; an annual event is the October oyster feast. Other industries are flour milling, malting, and the making of boilers, gas engines, shoes, clothing, and farm machinery.

Colchester was one of the great cities of pre-Roman Britain, the capital of the ruler Cunobelin (Shakespeare's Cymbeline). It became an important Roman colony and was the particular object of attack (A.D. 61) by Boadicea Boadicea , d. A.D. 61, British queen of the Iceni (of Norfolk), properly called Boudicca. Her husband, King Prasutagus, died in A.D. 59 or 60, leaving half his property to the Roman emperor and half to his daughters. ..... Click the link for more information. . To the Anglo-Saxons the place was known as Colneceaster. The witenagemot witenagemot [Old Eng.,=meeting of counselors], a session of the counselors (the witan) of a king in Anglo-Saxon England. Such a body existed in each of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. ..... Click the link for more information. met there in 931.

During the English civil war English civil war, 1642–48, the conflict between King Charles I of England and a large body of his subjects, generally called the "parliamentarians," that culminated in the defeat and execution of the king and the establishment of a republican commonwealth. ..... Click the link for more information. , the town was taken (1648) after a long siege by parliamentarians under Baron Fairfax of Cameron. Of interest are the preserved Roman walls and the massive Norman castle, part of which houses a museum of Roman antiquities. Colchester has a military base. Colchester Pictures of Colchester Pictures of Colchester Pictures Accommodation Towns Attractions Reviews Facts Map Upload Fascinating historic Essex town in which there was probably a settlement in both the 5th-century BC, and the Ist-century AD. The invading Roman's occupied Colchester in AD 43, and by AD 48 there was a major colony there. At the time of AD 60 soldiers under the command of Queen Boadicea revolted against Roman rule, they destroyed the temple and massacred the Roman occupants.

Thus, we are assured of the long history and illustrious legacy of the town where the Roman's first settled in Britain. The waters of the River Colne skirt the northern edge of Colchester, the north bridge is built on a site where a Roman bridge once stood, and a few of the cottages that once formed part of a Medieval suburb remain to this day. So too, do parts of the old walls of the town, and the massive Balkerne Gate to the west of the town. Interestingly, this is England's oldest-recorded town. It has stood on the banks of the River Colne amid fine Essex countryside throughout some of history's most tempestuous times, its main streets still follow the course of those laid down centuries ago and now form part of modern Colchester - a vibrant city with a fine University, major commercial business interests, excellent sporting facilities, cultural enterprises, and modern buildings that blend well in a town crammed with historic properties telling of its ancient past. The beauty of the Essex countryside is well documented, this surrounds the town and within there are acres of parks and open green spaces so that almost every street offers a glimpse of something fresh and green.

Some places of course, look out over the waters of the Colne to meadow views which have inspired centuries of artists, including the noted John Constable. Places of interest to those visiting the town will be Colchester Castle Museum, this takes you on a splendid historical journey covering over 2,000 years of history. Bourne Mill is another interesting building, this is found beside Bourne Pond and was originally built in 1591 as a fishing lodge. In the centre of the town stands the Town Hall, a gracious building of 1902 crowned with a clock tower topped by a statue of St. Helena facing towards Jerusalem. Legend has it that St. Helena was the daughter of the mythical King Cole of Colchester made famous by the nursery rhyme, other legends link the town to Camelot and Humpty Dumpty. The attractive "Dutch" quarter of the town is well worth seeing, here there are some lovely houses dating back to before the 16th-century, in other parts of Colchester there are buildings from the Medieval, Stuart, Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian periods.

Holly Trees Museum is in a beautiful town house built in 1718, this shows commemorative collections of craft and military objects from the 19th-century onwards. The Minories is yet another attractive property from the Georgian period, this houses a superb collection of art, furniture, china and silver, and the town's Natural History Museum is housed in what was formerly All Saint's Church. Here visitors can see a unique celebration of the county's rural and natural life, this encompasses reclamation from the sea, the salt marshes and a look at local geology. In East Street visitors can take a look at the Old Siege House, this is an attractive 15th-century building with walls riddled by Royalist bullets from the Civil War siege of 1648. The house is now a comfortable Italian Restaurant. With treasures from past and present, an abundance of nature reserves, particularly at the mouth of the Colne, fine parks, old churches, historic castles and a wealth of legends, Colchester makes an interesting visit for everyone. There is all of this and much more. It is a thriving, up to the minute city with modern shopping and pleasure facilities catering for all ages and all tastes.

It is close to the sea, with a famous harbour and is impressive in the extreme with out of town lanes, rivers and creeks lending enchantment to every road you take. Planning a visit to Colchester? Please support the Pictures of England website by booking your Colchester hotels & accommodation through this site. in the county of Essex (1.7 miles, 2.7 km, direction E of Colchester) Greenstead Church is said to be the oldest wooden building in the world. Well worth a visit.... in the county of Suffolk (5.6 miles, 9.0 km, direction N of Colchester) The heady beauty of Suffolk has been the inspiration of artist's for centuries and the village of Nayland, in the hear of Constable country is no exception... in the county of Essex (6.4 miles, 10.3 km, direction NE of Colchester) There are two things that immediately strike you about this enchanting village, the first is the opulence of the beautiful 15th-century church, and the second is the fascinating view of the River Stour, which, like the church, has featured in Constable paintings...

in the county of Suffolk (6.9 miles, 11.1 km, direction NE of Colchester) On arrival in Flatford there is little to prepare you for its overwhelming beauty, but you should not be surprised, for this after all is Constable Country, an area made famous by the great landscape painter and which features in so many of his pictures... in the county of Essex (7.7 miles, 12.3 km, direction SE of Colchester) A medieval port on the Colne estuary, Brightlingsea was once an associate member of the Cinque Ports. The history of the town goes back to Roman times and it's industry has always been linked to the sea... (4.3 miles, 6.9 km, direction E) .. East Anglian Railway Museum (3 Pictures) (6.2 miles, 9.9 km, direction W) Where better to take the children for a great day out! Here at the East Anglian Railway Museum, children, mum and dad, even.....

Dedham Art and Craft Centre (1 Pictures) (6.6 miles, 10.6 km, direction NE) The Dedham Art & Craft Centre is situated in the heart of Constable Country, on the North Essex/Suffolk border. In this..... Flatford Mill (44 Pictures) (7.3 miles, 11.7 km, direction NE) Standing on the River Stour beneath the wonderful open Suffolk sky, Flatford Mill, one of the 18th century water-mills owned by..... (11.0 miles, 17.7 km, direction S) .. Medieval English urban history - Colchester Colchester bailiffs and receivers/chamberlains Origins and early growth Few, if any, of England's towns can lay claim to the longevity that Colchester can; certainly none in East Anglia. The site was inhabited by the seventh century B.C. and was in the first century B.C. the capital of one of the various kingdoms of which ancient Britain was composed. This settlement lay on the ridge above, and the slope stretching down to, the southern bank of the Colne River, just a few miles northwest of where the Colne emptied into the North Sea.

This capital was an early target of the Roman invaders (A.D. 43) and within a few years they had converted it into Roman Britain's first colony of retired legionaries and the administrative centre of a canton; a solid wall was built to protect a rectangular-shaped area beside the river. The wall and the Roman streets influenced the layout of medieval Colchester . After the Romans left Britain, the Saxons settled within the old walls (an atypical case of Saxon habitation of a Roman town), but we have no mention of the town until 917, when it is evident that it was being contested between Danes and Anglo-Saxons. Its walls continued to make it an important regional stronghold and, by the time of Domesday , it was a borough of some significance, with the status of a hundred , its own court, a mint (an indication of the importance the king placed on a town), and several churches. The Colchester entry in Domesday is more detailed than those for most East Anglian towns, and the term civitas (city  although here possibly implying "district") is applied alongside that of borough.

There were 276 burgesses in 1086 under the direct lordship of the king, and about 450 households in all within the borough's boundaries. The Normans recognized Colchester's strategic value and, perhaps within a decade of the Conquest, began constructing a castle which included the largest keep in Europe, built atop the foundations of the principal Roman temple. The king included control of this fortress among various properties and authorities in Essex given to his steward, Eudo, as reward for his long support; Eudo may have been in charge of its construction (at least, later generations thought so). Henry I went so far as to turn over his lordship of Colchester to Eudo in 1101, although it reverted to the king after Eudo's death (1120). Eudo in 1096 founded St. John's Abbey just south of the walled town; the abbey held an annual fair for a few days in June. A little to the east of the Benedictine abbey site, again just outside the walls, was a church whose dedication  to St. Botolph  indicates it of Anglo-Saxon origin.

A few years after, and probably in response to, the foundation of the abbey, this church became an Augustinian priory. Still further east, Eudo founded a leper hospital dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene; Richard I granted that the hospital have the right to hold a fair in July. The twelfth century saw the town expanding beyond the walls, particularly into a suburb to the south, around the abbey and priory. A thriving, if somewhat detached, suburb also developed to the south-east around the town's harbour at New Hythe; this was successor to an earlier haven at Old Hythe further south along the river, which was revived in the 1340s, perhaps being about as far along the river as sea-going ships could navigate. Lesser suburbs arose around the bridges across the Colne to the north and east of the walled area. This was the shape of medieval Colchester. Nonetheless, we should hardly think of the town as crowded by modern standards; its population in the Late Middle Ages probably fluctuated between 3,000 and 8,000.

Colchester domestic architecture There remain a few examples of 15th / 16th century architectural styles, such as those in the Stockwell Street area and [top] near North Bridge; they leave a faint impression of how Colchester might have looked at the close of the Middle Ages. photos © S. Alsford Development of local government Colchester's first known royal charter was received in 1189 and gave the borough the foundations of self-government. The similarity between the terms of this and the 1133 charter of London liberties has led to speculation that the 1189 grant may have been only a confirmation, or modification of an earlier one, perhaps from just before the period (1178-94) when burgess representatives seem to have been answering for the borough farm; however, we should not read too much into this.

Through the 1189 charter the king permitted the townsmen the right to choose, from among their number, two bailiffs to head the administration of local justice, which included authority over matters relating to commercial and real estate transactions; he recognized the pre-eminence of local customs within the borough bounds (or "liberty"), while exempting the borough from certain external authorities or obligations. Freedom from paying tolls on merchandise in other English localities was granted, and the holding of any market (other than the borough's own) within the liberty was prohibited. Fishing rights along a particular stretch of the Colne (regardless of who owned the land along the banks) were confirmed, as was the right to hunt fox, hare or polecat within the liberty. Archaeology has provided evidence that the seat of local government, the moothall, may have been built around that time. Administration focused around the sessions of the town court held there.

The official "hundred court" was held on Mondays  usually fortnightly, but sometimes weekly  to deal with normal legal business; additional court sessions were introduced as the fourteenth century wore on, on any weekday necessary, to take care of extra business, pleas introduced by non-citizens, and cases whose handling required speed. In addition, 3 lawhundred sessions were held annually, at which all those owning land in the town (whether burgesses or not) were supposed to attend; here were made the public presentments of breaches of local custom , ordinances and national statutes. Four administrative wards cross-cut the geographical entity that was Colchester, comprising the walled town, its suburbs and neighbouring villages (see under Economy ). Colchester underwent the growth pains typical of most medieval towns, in terms of contests for jurisdiction with neighbouring authorities. The bailiffs had to share jurisdiction in the rural parts of the liberty with manorial lords, who would have preferred complete independence for their estates. As early as Domesday the town was complaining that some of the properties which had formerly contributed to paying the customary dues owed by town to king were evading that obligation. In Colchester's case the main rivals were the Abbot of St.

John's, a powerful and wealthy ecclesiastic, and John FitzWalter lord of Lexden manor together with his steward (and tenant of Langenhoe manor) Lionel de Bradenham . The latter lost their contest  which focused on rights relating to the river  after resorting to illegal methods, including intimidation of individual townsmen and a 13-week siege of the town (1350), which led to the king imposing crushingly heavy fines on them. The abbey was the single most important landlord of the properties within the borough liberty, although his lands were mainly in the villages; the abbots pursued a policy of improving their estates, which often involved enclosing parcels of land. The not surprising result was that the abbot and the town would come into conflict over jurisdiction regarding those areas. The townsmen were quick to challenge any encroachment on what they considered their rights of passage, pasturage, hunting or fishing within the liberty. Furthermore, up to mid-fourteenth century, many of the men who led the town government as bailiffs were themselves prominent landholders. Much space in the medieval borough records is taken up with documents pertaining to the legal battles.

In 1254, for example, a settlement of disputes between the parties led to the abbot acknowledging the right of the burgesses to hunt hare, fox and cat in parts of Greenstead and West Donyland (hamlets within the liberty), with catches tolerated even in the abbot's own hunting warren so long as the townsmen called back their dogs once the prey was caught, and so long as reparations were made for any damage to crops. In return the borough recognized the abbey's warren in West Donyland, granted the monks and their tenants freedom from tolls on goods for personal use (goods for purposes of resale, however, were still to be subject to tolls), and agreed to the abbey having pillories and cucking-stools in West Donyland and Greenstead. Agreements such as this tended to fall by the wayside when new disputes arose.

A series of complaints made by the townsmen in the 1280s before the lawhundred or to the king indicate the kinds of disputes that continued to plague town-abbey relations; charges included that the abbot: was holding his own court and summoning townsmen to answer charges; had set up a gallows and cucking-stool (for adulterers), and was claiming jurisdiction in the assize of bread and ale within Greenstead and Berechurch; (in fact, in 1253 the abbot had complained about a Colchester mob pulling down his gallows and cucking-stool at Greenstead); was refusing borough coroners jurisdiction on lands held by the abbey within the liberty, calling in the county coroners instead; was claiming hunting rights in Greenstead and Berechurch and had enclosed in the former some land on which the townsmen traditionally had hunting rights; had built a weir across a waterway belonging to the town, and had blocked and enclosed one the roads in the liberty; had enclosed a meadow at Hythe on which the townsmen had communal rights; was preventing townsmen's right-of-way on several other roads or paths within the liberty; was withholding payments of rents that

 ought to contribute to the fee farm of the town; had created a drainage ditch from the abbey infirmary that was foul-smelling; claimed that he and his tenants were exempt from paying local tolls on any goods produced on his properties within the liberty; was refusing to pay 3s.

due towards the fee farm for the abbey's right to hold a fair. The abbot's defence was, essentially, that the abbey and its properties were not, administratively, within the borough liberty. Inquisitions into the disputes for the most part came to the opposite opinion. In the second half of the century, the disputes between town and abbey quietened, but flared up again at the close of the century  with a particularly assertive abbot having been accused, in 1398, of sending armed riders into the town to terrorize the citizens  and continued in the fifteenth, when the abbot's name again features prominently in lawhundred presentments. A royal charter of 1447 was acquired by the townsmen in order to try to overcome local disputes. The charter included the specification of which hamlets were part of the liberty, and additional specification (beyond the terms of earlier charters) of the types of cases that fell within the jurisdiction of the borough court.

Constitutional reform, to place checks on the government of the bailiffs and to introduce a system in which there was greater accountability for expanding and more diversified borough revenues, took place in Colchester in 1372; whether it was provoked by specific abuses of power or physical expressions of popular discontent, as in some other towns (e.g. Ipswich), is unknown. The reforms laid out somewhat involved procedures for electing bailiffs , and introduced financial officers and a council chosen from the "wisest" townsmen to work with the bailiffs in governmental decision-making. Urban administration was becoming a more formalized affair, requiring a larger number of officials, with more specialized roles. In the years immediately following the reform, Colchester's records paint a picture of a revitalized administration undertaking a variety of actions improving the borough fabric and expressing civic pride, including a perambulation of the liberty (a symbolic assertion of the extent of geographical jurisdiction). By contrast, subsequent constitutional adjustments , in the fifteenth century and later, were a response to the growing complexity of administrative responsibilities placed on towns by the king, combined with the social tensions resulting in part from a downturn in the borough economy.

The outcome was an ultimately successful effort by the wealthier townsmen to protect their group interests by at first formalizing their domination of government and later monopolizing it. The royal charter of 1447 strengthened ballival authority by adding to it powers formerly exercised by royal officers  the Clerk of the Market and the Justices of the Peace, while that of 1462 incorporated the borough and redefined its governmental structure . Buildings and fortifications Apart from a few medieval cellars, little of the medieval borough remains today except for the fortifications and ecclesiastical structures. Holy Trinity church still has its Saxon tower (ca. 1000). The remains of St. Botolph's priory , although partial and ruinous, are nonetheless sufficient to give a strong impression of the size and solidity of the church as it would have been in the twelfth century. Of St. John's Abbey only the fifteenth century gatehouse remains, although this too is an impressive structure reflecting the wealth of the house.

All that still stands of the medieval castle is its keep (which is a broader version of the Norman keep in the Tower of London, although its upper floors were torn down in the post-medieval period), a portion of the earthern ramparts that surrounded it, and foundations of a second, minor building. The castle was probably begun in the 1070s, perhaps as much a response to threats of Danish or Flemish invasion at that time as an element in the Conqueror's attempt to control his new realm (Colchester apparently having offered him no trouble, in contrast to Norwich ). The castle was always held by the king, although when it underwent its only siege (1216) it was the supporters of the rebellious barons who surrendered it to King John's men. Colchester had managed to avoid involvement in the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, and again in the baronial wars of mid-thirteenth century.

After the end of the those wars, the main role played by the castle during the Middle Ages was as one of the county prisons and the site of some trials of prisoners (Colchester records describe a trial by combat there in 1375); Chelmsford, as a more central location in Essex, however, was chosen as the seat of the shire court. By the end of the Middle Ages the castle was starting to decay from lack of use and maintenance. Two views of Colchester castle [left] western end, with entrance constructed in the 12th century (the small dome being a post-medieval addition) [right] eastern end photos © S. Alsford Parts of the town walls and the ruins of one of its gates also survive today, having served the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons and the medieval townsmen. It was the walls that the townsmen chose to symbolize them on the borough seal; a similar expression of attitudes is reflected in medieval paintings of towns, which tend to overemphasize the walls and towers. However, that did not stop the townsmen from plundering them for building materials, or for building houses right up against the wall.

Efforts were made to keep the walls in good condition, beginning at least as early as King Edward the Elder 's repair efforts after Colchester had been besieged and recaptured from the Danes in 917. In 1382 local records talk of ongoing repair work on the walls, and it was at this time that Richard II granted Colchester the first of three exemptions from the costs of sending representatives to parliament, in view of the expense of wall maintenance. Part of the costs involved adding bastions. Possibly the work on the walls was prompted by the Peasants' Revolt  one of whose leaders, John Ball, had lived in Colcester  during which a mob had disrupted the government of the town, threatened to destroy town records, and actually followed through on a similar threat against St. John's Abbey. Economy Archaeology has found evidence that Colchester's inhabitants were already engaged in trade with the continent in the time of the ancient Britons; they were importing pottery, as well as imitating Belgic pottery in kilns in the vicinity of Colchester.

The town's position near the coast, giving access across the North Sea to the markets in the Low Countries and the Baltic, and at the mouth of a major river system leading into East Anglia, was an advantage, as similar circumstances were for other East Anglian towns such as Lynn, Yarmouth and Ipswich. Colchester had an added advantage of proximity to London, as well as a good connection thereto via the old Roman roads system, although this later proved disadvantageous when (in the fifteenth century) the export of products of Colchester's cloth-finishing industry fell under the influence of the Hanse merchants based at the London Steelyard. In the opposite direction, a road ran to Ipswich. Yet despite its long-standing international trade and its road connections to other English towns, Colchester was not as important a mercantile centre as towns such as Norwich, Lynn or Ipswich; the market for its agricultural produce or for the products of most local industries was primarily regional.

The Colne provided it with a minor fishery  notably sole and the oysters for which Colchester was famous; a related annual fair was held at the beginning of the oyster season (October) and probably dates back to at least the twelfth century, although its first formal recognition was in a royal charter of 1319. None of the fairs held by the various religious houses seems to have been significant enough to attract foreign merchants. On the other hand, the town flourished sufficiently to encourage Jewish settlement in the reign of Henry II  the royal castle there being another attraction; this community had its own bailiff by 1220 but declined in later decades, so that by 1290 only a handful of relatively poor Jewish householders remained. The pursuits of Colchester's residents were a combination of agrarian, fishing, mercantile and industrial, in a more even balance than other East Anglian towns of comparable size. Many burgesses were involved to some extent  whether personally or through employees  in agricultural activities as one of the means of earning their livelihood (e.g. crops might be grown to supply brewing retail).

The area south of the walls in particular held many of the townsmen's pastures and fields; the type of soil favoured the cultivation of rye. The boundaries of the liberty of Colchester (i.e. the hundred) in fact extended well beyond the Roman walls to encompass, in addition to the immediate suburbs, four nearby villages: Lexden (west of the town), Greenstead (east), Mile End (north), and Berechurch (south), although these were also affiliated in some regards with manorial estates. At the time of Domesday, about 120 residents seem to have owned houses but no land, whereas the majority held tracts of land varying from one to ten acres each, suggesting an interest, although not an exclusive one, in farming. In the national taxations of 1296 and 1301 we see almost exactly the same proportion of townsmen (69%) on both occasions owning livestock; some owned only one or two animals, whereas others had large flocks or herds. Agricultural pursuits were, not surprisingly, most prevalent in the villages within Colchester's bounds, whereas the residents of the walled area were more engaged in commercial activities.

In the thirteenth century Colchester acquired a small role in cloth-making, and this industry gradually became more important to the town as the Middle Ages wore on, helped by the immigration of Flemings in the second half of the fourteenth century. Colchester merchants had a modest involvement in the wool trade, while local cloth, such as the russet for which the town had some fame, found markets across England and abroad. There were already a few fullers operating in the town in the twelfth century and the area around Colchester became a focus for the building of mills either partially or wholly used for fulling . Eight mills are known to have operated within the bounds of Colchester itself during the fourteenth century, although not all continuously. As the cloth-finishing industry became more important, mills switched from grinding grain to fulling cloth; the mill at New Hythe , for example, was made available by the town authorities to fullers, for a per-cloth fee.

In the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries cloth-making was hardly a major industry in Colchester; leather-based industries  such as tanning and shoemaking  seem to have been equally important (at least in fulfilling the needs of local markets), and locally-made pottery found a regional market. While the leather industry declined, however, from the second half of the fourteenth to the early fifteenth century Colchester cloth-makers and merchants, like those of other east coast towns, benefited from the expansion of markets in the Baltic and Gascony; Colchester russet even found a market in Mediterranean countries, although via the London trade. But as the fifteenth century progressed, the cloth industry too went into a decline, as war and depopulation damaged the Baltic and Gascon markets. It came more under the control of, on the one hand, craft gilds whose role in assuring quality standards also meant restricting participation in the industry and, on the other hand, of wealthier townsmen who could afford to be involved in all aspects of clothmaking (purchase of wool, operation of mills, employment of cloth-finishers, exporting of cloth).

There were two wool and cloth fairs held in Colchester each year, in June and July; by the second half of the fourteenth century these had outgrown their original sites. One citizen's home hosted a privately-run wool market at the beginning of the 1370s, but the borough authorities soon took this over, settling it in the newly spruced-up cellar under the moothall (1373/74). They quickly followed this up by taking control over the fairs and accommodating elements of these too in the moothall cellar and the nearby High Street (the rents for stalls there helping with the borough budget); trading in private houses was prohibited. Wine was the leading item among goods imported by Colchester's merchants, and grain prominent among their exports, although many simply dealt in whatever goods were available or in demand at any given point. However, generally Colchester was by no means as important a centre for import/export as Ipswich, to which Colchester's harbour was purely a subsidiary within the national system of customs collection.

While Colchester's High Street market remained a regional distribution mechanism, wholesaling increasingly focused around the New Hythe suburb; Edward IV's charter to the borough restricted the buying and selling of imported goods to New Hythe, where ships landed goods. Yet only a handful of townsmen owned ships large enough for crossing the sea and mooring space at the Hythe was limited. Much of the international trade conducted through Colchester was in the hands of outside merchants. During the Middle Ages, Colchester never developed the degree of wealth that some of the younger, and often smaller, towns in East Anglia achieved. Information sources The following is a small selection of published sources of information about medieval Colchester. For additional secondary sources as well as primary sources, see the bibliography to The Men Behind the Masque . Benham, W.G., ed. The Red Paper Book of Colchester. Colchester, 1902. Benham, W.G., ed. The Oath Book or Red Parchment Book of Colchester. Colchester, 1907. Britnell, R.H. Growth and Decline in Colchester, 1300-1525. Cambridge, 1986.

Britnell, R.H. "Colchester Courts and Court Records, 1310-1525." Essex Archaeology and History, vol.17 (1986), 133-40. Britnell, R.H. "Bailiffs and burgesses in Colchester 1400-1525." Essex Archaeology and History, vol.21 (1990), 103-09. Martin, G.H. The Story of Colchester: from Roman Times to the Present Day. Colchester, 1959. Morant, Philip. The History and Antiquities of Colchester. London, 1768. Powell, W.R. "Lionel de Bradenham and his siege of Colchester in 1350." Essex Archaeology and History, vol.22 (1991), 67-75. Rodwell, W. Historic Churches: A Wasting Asset. Council for British Archaeology Research Report, no.19 (1977).

Colchester (town) | Article about Colchester (town) by The Free Dictionary Colchester (town) | Article about Colchester (town) by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Dictionary , Wikipedia . Colchester (kōl`chĭstər, –chĕs'tər), city (1991 pop. 87,476) and district, Essex, SE England, on the Colne River. The city is a grain and cattle market. The oyster fisheries of the Colne are important; an annual event is the October oyster feast. Other industries are flour milling, malting, and the making of boilers, gas engines, shoes, clothing, and farm machinery. Colchester was one of the great cities of pre-Roman Britain, the capital of the ruler Cunobelin (Shakespeare's Cymbeline). It became an important Roman colony and was the particular object of attack (A.D. 61) by Boadicea Boadicea , d. A.D. 61, British queen of the Iceni (of Norfolk), properly called Boudicca. Her husband, King Prasutagus, died in A.D.

59 or 60, leaving half his property to the Roman emperor and half to his daughters. ..... Click the link for more information. . To the Anglo-Saxons the place was known as Colneceaster. The witenagemot witenagemot [Old Eng.,=meeting of counselors], a session of the counselors (the witan) of a king in Anglo-Saxon England. Such a body existed in each of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. ..... Click the link for more information. met there in 931. During the English civil war English civil war, 1642–48, the conflict between King Charles I of England and a large body of his subjects, generally called the "parliamentarians," that culminated in the defeat and execution of the king and the establishment of a republican commonwealth. ..... Click the link for more information. , the town was taken (1648) after a long siege by parliamentarians under Baron Fairfax of Cameron. Of interest are the preserved Roman walls and the massive Norman castle, part of which houses a museum of Roman antiquities. Colchester has a military base.

Colchester Nelmes Website - Brief Colchester Guide Information for Visitors Colchester's Visitor Information Centre is at 1 Queen Street - Telephone (01206) 282920. Colchester Borough Council's website is at . The visitors' section of the site can be found at . Location and Transport Links Colchester is about 50 miles north east of London, lying between picturesque 'Constable Country' to the north and the Colne estuary to the south. Rail Links : Regular train services run between London Liverpool Street and Colchester North stations with a scheduled journey time of 50 to 60 minutes. Roads : The main road link is the A12 running between London and Ipswich. To the west the A120 links the town with Stansted and the M11. Traffic is heavy and frequently slow moving with few opportunities to overtake slower vehicles. Approaching from the west an alternative is the A14 to Ipswich and then the A12 down to Colchester. The A14 is a better road but has become very much busier in the last two or three years making it subject to delays.

The A1124 (previously A604) from Cambridge to Colchester is not a good or fast road. Air : The nearest main airport is London Stansted which is generally considered more comfortable and user friendly than Heathrow or Gatwick. There are regular flights to most mainland European destinations and the rest of the UK but there is room for improvement in availability of flights to non-European centres. Shopping To be honest we do have a problem with the volume of traffic in Colchester. However, once you find somewhere to park your car, perhaps St Mary's Car Park on Balkerne Hill or the NCP Car Park off the North side of Southway, it is a good shopping centre which seems to be popular with foreign visitors as well as the natives. There are also ample places to eat at reasonable prices. Good department stores are Williams & Griffin at the Head Street end of the High Street, Debenhams in the Culver Precinct, and Colchester Co-op. The centre of the town is relatively compact and there you will find all the usual big names such as Marks & Spencer, W H Smith, Boots, BHS, etc.

Culture and Leisure Facilities Cultural interests are well catered for with the Mercury Theatre, Colchester Arts Centre, and the Charter Hall as well as a good variety of musical events. For those with more physically demanding interests there are good sports facilities including the Leisure Centre with its large swimming pool and other facilities. Colchester is famous for oysters, with oyster beds in the lower reaches of the River Colne. Each year there is the famous Oyster Feast held in the Town Hall. Colchester is a university town, the University of Essex having been founded here in 1961 at Wivenhoe Park. The tall accommodation towers stand out on the horizon to the right as you drive east out of the town towards Elmstead Market. Rich in History Colchester has the distinction of being Britain's oldest recorded town, and there was a settlement here as early as the 7th century BC. In the 1st century AD Cunobelin (Shakespeare's Cymbeline) was king at Camulodunum, as the town was called at that time. The Romans The Romans invaded and occupied Colchester in 43 AD and five years later established a major colony here.

Around 50 AD they built a temple in honour of the Emperor Claudius where Colchester Castle now stands. The locals, the Iceni tribe, didn't think much of being ruled by foreigners so decided to do something about it. In 60 AD under the leadership of Queen Boudicca (Boadicea of chariot fame) they staged a revolt, massacring the Roman's first colony and destroying their temple. Perhaps it was this unhappy experience which encouraged the Romans to decide on more substantial defences for the town. The Roman wall round the town is the oldest town wall in Britain, and is thought to have been constructed in the early 2nd century AD. It stretches for about a mile and a half. Much of it is in an excellent state of preservation and is easily visible on the east side of Balkerne Hill, in Castle Park, and along the back of the car park in Priory Street. Balkerne Gate, by the Hole in the Wall pub on Balkerne Hill, is the largest surviving Roman gateway in Britain. The Roman walls were repaired in late Saxon times and they also defended the medieval town. Colchester was the capital of Roman Britain when London was just a trading post.

In recent times a number of local Roman sites have been excavated and a variety of interesting Roman artifacts are on display in the Castle Museum. The Saxons The Saxons raided and settled southern England from about the middle of the 5th century. There is evidence of an early Saxon settlement within the walls of the town but little else to tell about life in Colchester during the Saxon period. In the Dark Ages the Danes frequently raided the town. At one stage a Danish garrison occupied it before being expelled in 917. These days the Scandinavians come in November and December to do their Christmas shopping - or did until the exchange rate became less favourable for them! The Normans The late 11th century must have been a good time to be in the building trade in Colchester - By about 1085 the Normans had built a castle on and around the site of the former Roman temple. The only bit of the castle still standing is the Keep, but it is the largest surviving keep in Europe and now houses an excellent museum. You can find it in Castle Park at the East end of the High Street.

In 1096 St John's Abbey, dedicated to St John the Baptist, was founded by Eudo Dapifer. Steward of the Royal household of William II, Eudo was a powerful figure in Colchester having been entrusted by the king with the castle and town. The Abbey was dissolved in 1539 at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The then Abbot, Robert Beche, was hanged because of his unwillingness to co-operate and give in. All that is now left of the Abbey is the 15th century gatehouse, complete with pinnacled towers, bordering St John's Green, not many minutes walk south from the town centre. Not long after the founding of St John's Abbey, St Botolph's Priory was built. In about 1100 AD it became the first English house of the Canons Regular of St Augustine. It was destroyed during the siege of Colchester in 1648 and the ruins can be seen at the Queen Street end of Priory Street on the south side. In 1189 the town was granted its first Charter by Richard I.

In 1218 King John employed French mercenaries under Prince Louis to capture the town. The Cloth Trade In the 13th century Colchester emerged as a cloth making town, a trade which grew in importance. The town and its trade continued to prosper until hit by a recession in the cloth trade in the 1550s. Fortunes were restored with the coming of Flemish weavers, skilled makers of bays and says (fine woollen cloths), in the late 16th century. Protestant refugees fleeing from Spanish rule in the Netherlands, these immigrants transformed the town's economy and Colchester became a centre of the cloth trade with its products being internationally recognised. Many of these setters lived in what is now called the 'Dutch Quarter' of the town. The Dutch Quarter is a comparatively modern name for an area which lies between the castle grounds and Stockwell Street to the West and many of its houses were standing long before the Flemish arrived. The English Civil War and Its Aftermath For most of the Civil War (1642-51) Colchester was on the side of the Parliamentarians.

However, at one stage it fell into the hands of the Royalists and was under siege by General Fairfax's Parliamentarian troops for 11 weeks in 1648. When resistance was finally quashed two of the Royalist leaders were hanged and other nasty things happened 'pour encourager les autres'. Parts of the Roman wall were demolished at this time. Beyond the bridge at the bottom of East Hill is The Siege House. The timbers of this 15th century building are pockmarked by bullets thought to have been fired by the Royalists during the siege. Many building suffered great damage in the siege which also played havoc with the local economy. From then on the bay and say trade gradually dwindled until it disappeared in the early 19th century. The last bay-mill in Colchester closed in the 1840s. A Garrison Town An army garrison was established in the town during the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815). The need for a garrison disappeared with the ending of the Wars and the original barracks were demolished in 1817.

A new and permanent military camp opened in 1856 since when Colchester has remained an important garrison town. For many who did National Service after the Second World War Colchester is always associated with 'the glasshouse' - the Military Corrective Training Centre. The MCTC is still based here, employing its own distinctive methods of modifying the behavioural patterns of errant soldiers. Good Website with Colchester Information top

Question: The English town of Colchester lies on which river?
Answer: River Colne