There are several theories about the origin of the nameColchester. Some contend that is derived from theLatin wordscolonia (referring to a type ofRoman settlement with rights equivalent to those of Roman citizens, one of which was believed to have been founded in the vicinity of Colchester) andcastra, meaningfortifications (referring to the city walls, the oldest in Britain).[13][14] The earliest forms of the name Colchester areColenceaster andColneceastre from the 10th century, with the modern spelling ofColchester being found in the 15th century.[13] In this way of interpreting the name, theRiver Colne which runs through the area takes its name fromColonia as well.[13]Cologne (GermanKöln) also gained its name from a similar etymology (from its Roman nameColonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium).[14]
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 fromColne andCastra.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."[15]
The popular association of the name withKing Coel has no academic merit.
Flag of Colchester as flown from the City Hall, based on itscoat of arms.[19]
Colchester is said to be theoldest recorded town in Britain on the grounds that it was mentioned byPliny the Elder, who died in AD 79,[20] although the Celtic name of the town,Camulodunon appears on coins minted by tribal chieftainTasciovanus in the period 20–10 BC.[13] Before the Roman conquest of Britain it was already a centre of power forCunobelin – known to Shakespeare asCymbeline – king of theCatuvellauni (c. 5 BC – AD 40), who minted coins there.[21] ItsCeltic name, Camulodunon, variously represented as CA, CAM, CAMV, CAMVL and CAMVLODVNO on the coins of Cunobelinus, means 'the fortress of [the war god]Camulos'.[22] During the 30s AD Camulodunon controlled a large swathe of Southern and Eastern Britain, with Cunobelin called "King of the Britons" by Roman writers.[13] Camulodunon is sometimes popularly considered one of many possible sites around Britain for the legendary (perhapsmythical)Camelot of King Arthur,[23] though the nameCamelot (first mentioned by the 12th century French Arthurian storytellerChrétien de Troyes) is most likely a corruption ofCamlann, a now unknown location first mentioned in the 10th century Welsh annalistic textAnnales Cambriae, identified as the place where Arthur was slain in battle.[24]
Soon after theRoman conquest of Britain in AD 43, a Roman legionary fortress was established,[25] the first in Britain.[13] Later, when the Roman frontier moved outwards and the twentieth legion had moved to the west (c. AD 49), Camulodunum became acolonia named in a second-century inscription asColonia Victricensis. This contained a large and elaborateTemple to the Divine Claudius,[26] the largestclassical-style temple in Britain, as well as at least seven other Romano-British temples.[27] Colchester is home to two of the fiveRoman theatres found in Britain; the example at Gosbecks (site of theIron Age royal farmstead) is the largest inBritain, able to seat 5,000.[13]
Camulodunum served as a provincial Roman capital of Britain, but was attacked and destroyed duringBoudica's rebellion in AD 61.[28] Sometime after the destruction, London became the capital of the province ofBritannia.[29] Colchester's city walls c. 3,000 yd. long were built c.65–80 A.D. when the Roman town was rebuilt after the Boudicca rebellion.[30] 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.[31] The city reached its peak in the second and third centuries AD.[13][32] It may have reached a population of 30,000 in that period.[33]
In 2014 a hoard of jewellery, known as The Fenwick Hoard, named for the shop it was found beneath,[34] was discovered in the town centre.[35][36] 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".[37]
ARoman 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.[38]
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.[39]
The archaeologistSir Mortimer Wheeler was the first to propose that the lack of earlyAnglo-Saxon finds in a triangle between London, Colchester andSt Albans could indicate a 'sub-Roman triangle' where British rule continued after the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons.[40] 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.[41]
The chronology of its revival is obscure. But the ninth-centuryHistoria Brittonum, attributed toNennius, mentions the town, which it callsCair Colun, in a list of the thirty most important cities in Britain.[42] Colchester was in the area assigned to theDanelaw in c.880 and remained in Danish hands until 917 when it was besieged and recaptured by the army ofEdward the Elder.[43] The tenth-century Saxons called the townColneceastre, which is directly equivalent to theCair Colun of 'Nennius'.[44] The tower of Holy Trinity Church is late Saxon work.
Colchester's medieval town seal incorporated the biblical textIntravit 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.[45]
In 1189, Colchester was granted its first knownroyal charter by King Richard I (Richard the Lionheart), although the wording suggests that it was based on an earlier one. It granted Colchester'sburgesses the right to electbailiffs and ajustice.[46] The borough celebrated the 800th anniversary of its charter in 1989.[47]
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 theBlack Death, particularly by immigration into the town.[48]Rovers Tye Farm, now a pub onIpswich Road, has been documented as being established by 1353.[49]
Colchester in 1500 AD
By the 'New Constitutions' of 1372, a borough council was instituted; the twobailiffs 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.[48]
Peake's House, one of the Elizabethan houses in the Dutch Quarter
Between 1550 and 1600, a large number ofweavers and clothmakers fromFlanders emigrated to Colchester and the surrounding areas.[50] They were famed for the production of "Bays and Says" cloths which were woven fromwool and are normally associated withbaize andserge although surviving examples show that they were rather different from their modern equivalents.[51] An area in Colchester town centre is still known as the Dutch Quarter and many buildings there date from theTudor period. During this period Colchester was one of the most prosperous wool towns in England and was also famed for itsoysters.[50] 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.[52] The old Roman wall runs along Northgate Street in the Dutch Quarter.
In the reign ofMary 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)
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.
Daniel Defoe mentions inA tour throughEngland and Wales that the town lost 5259 people[54] to theplague in 1665,"more in proportion than any of its neighbours, or than the city of London".[54] 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.[55]
In 1884, the area was struck by theColchester earthquake, estimated to have been 4.7 on theRichter Scale causing extensive regional damage.
ThePaxman 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 – later becoming part of the GEC Group. Since the 1930s the Paxman company's main business has been the production ofdiesel engines.
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 bombedSeveralls 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.[58]
TheUniversity of Essex was established at Wivenhoe Park in 1961.[57] The £22.7M 8-mile (13-kilometre)A120 Colchester Eastern Bypass opened in June 1982.
Colchester and the surrounding area is currently undergoing significant regeneration,[59] including controversial greenfield residential development in Mile End and Braiswick.[60] At the time of the2011 United Kingdom census, Colchester and its surrounding built up area had a population of121,859, 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.[61] The local football team, Colchester United, moved into abrand new stadium at Cuckoo Farm in 2008.
On 20 May 2022, it was announced that as part of thePlatinum Jubilee Civic Honours, what was then theBorough of Colchester would receivecity status. It was slated to receive the status formally byletters patent on 12 September 2022,[62][63] however following thedeath of Queen Elizabeth II, the ceremony was postponed.[64] On 29 September 2022, the letters patent was made public, with Colchester receiving city status dated 5 September 2022 by the late Queen.[6] Colchester officially received city status on 23 November 2022.[65] Colchester was visited byKing Charles III on 7 March 2023, in order to congratulate Colchester on receiving city status.[66]
Colchester is in one of the driest regions of the United Kingdom with average annual precipitation at 635 mm (25.0 inches), although among the wetter places in Essex. Colchester is generally regarded as having anOceanic climate (Köppen climate classificationCfb) 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 °Cs/low 30 °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 andthunderstorms can take place during the summer. Snow falls on average 13 days a year during winter and early spring.[citation needed]
The highest temperature recorded in Colchester was 39.0 °C (102 °F) in July 2022 (during the 2022 European heatwaves), and the lowest was −9.4 °C (15 °F) in December 2010.
Colchester has been an important military garrison since theRoman era. TheColchester Garrison is currently home to the16th Air Assault Brigade. The Army's only military corrective training centre, known colloquially within the forces and locally as "The Glasshouse" after the original military prison inAldershot,[67] is in Berechurch Hall Road, on the outskirts of Colchester.[68] The centre holds men and women from all three services who are sentenced to serve periods ofdetention.
From 1998 to 2008, the garrison area underwent massive redevelopment. A lot of theMinistry 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 whereRoyal Salutes are fired to mark Royal anniversaries and visits by foreign heads of state. From 2009, these salutes have taken place in Castle Park.[69]
BFBS Radio broadcasts from studios on the base on 107.0FM as part of its UK Bases network.
Colchester was anancient borough with urban forms of local government fromSaxon times.Burgesses were already established by the time of theDomesday 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.[73] By the 14th century the borough covered sixteenparishes. 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 andMyland) 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.[74][75]
Several charters were granted to the borough over time amending how it operated. A 1635 charter fromCharles I gave the right to appoint aHigh Steward of Colchester. It is now essentially an honorary post. The current high steward is the former MP, Liberal DemocratSir Bob Russell, appointed in 2015.[76]
The borough was reformed in 1836 to become amunicipal borough under theMunicipal Corporations Act 1835, which standardised the way most boroughs operated across the country.[77] 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.[78][79]
Theunparished 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 calledMyland was subsequently created in 1999 from part of the area of the pre-1974 borough.[83][84]Stanway to the west was not part of the pre-1974 borough, but the urban area has grown into Stanway parish and theOffice for National Statistics now classes Stanway as part of the Colchester built up area.[1]
Colchester houses several museums. The Castle Museum, found withinColchester Castle, features an extensive exhibit on Roman Colchester. Nearby areHollytrees Museum, a social history museum with children's exhibits in the former home ofCharles 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.[85] In 2014 brick and marble columns from the monumental façade of the precinct of theTemple of Claudius were discovered behind the High Street, with plans to make them visible to the public.[86]
'Balkerne Star' designed byAnne Schwegmann-Fielding, Balkerne Heights, Colchester – made in 2006 and inspired by a Roman mosaic flooring found in Colchester
Opened in 1972, theMercury Theatre is a repertory theatre. Located nearby isColchester Arts Centre,[87] 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.[88]
Firstsite is a contemporary art organisation, based in the Visual Arts Facility, which was designed byRafael Viñoly, and opened in September 2011, at a total cost of approximately £25.5 million, £9 million more than the original estimate.[89]
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.[90]
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 theColchester Institute,[91] 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]
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 atCastle 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 askatepark.
The commercial centre is home to upmarket department storeFenwick (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.
Colchester suffered in theFirst World War, losing some 1,248 in the conflict.[97] 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.[98] The committee formed to choose a proposal decided on a sculptural monument on 16 May 1919 with a vote of 7 to 9.[99] Following a visit to theRoyal Academy's War Memorial Exhibition,[100] the sculptorHenry Charles Fehr was chosen to undertake the work, for which he was paid £3,000.[101] The memorial consists of three human figures on a sculptural pedestal. The figures are ofSaint George, an allegorical representation of peace and the goddessNike.[100]
A surviving stretch of the Roman Town Wall in East Hill
Construction of the walls of Colchester took place between 65 and 80AD, shortly after the destruction of the undefendedcolonia 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 theBalkerne Gate, which is the earliest and most complete Roman gateway in the United Kingdom. A circular walk of nearly 2 miles (3 kilometres) follows the course of the wall and the surviving portions.[102]
The Balkerne Water Tower or "Jumbo", viewed from theBalkerne Gate
Completed in 1883 when the Town Council took over Colchester's water supply, the 110-foot (34-metre)water tower was originally called the "Balkerne Water Tower",[103] but soon became known as "Jumbo" because of its large size, which prompted the addition of an elephant-shapedweather vane at its peak. The tower was decommissioned in 1987 and has had several private owners pending redevelopment.[104]
The town hall is built on the site of the originalmoot hall, first recorded in 1277 and demolished in 1843. Replacing a Victorian town hall which had become unstable,[105] work on the present building started in 1897 to the design ofJohn Belcher in theEdwardian Baroque style,[106] and was opened in 1902 by formerprime minister, theEarl of Rosebery.[50] The building dominates the High Street and the 192-foot (58.5-metre) Victoria Tower is widely visible. The tower was intended to commemorate theDiamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria and was funded by a donation fromJames Noah Paxman, the founder ofDavey, Paxman & Co. It features fourallegorical figures byL J Watts representing engineering, military defence, agriculture and fishery.[106] At the top of the tower is a large bronze figure representing Saint Helena (thepatron 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 theVirgin Mary, which then had to be modified locally.[107]
Colchester is linked toLondon andEast Anglia by theA12, which bypasses the town to the north and east; it is the region's main trunk route. TheA120 connects Colchester withHarwich in the east, and withStansted Airport and theM11 motorway in the west.
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.[111] 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).[112][113]
TheRoman historianTacitus mentions Colchester (Camulodunum) inThe 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.[114]
It is the only town in Britain to have been explicitly mentioned inGeorge Orwell's 1949 novelNineteen Eighty-Four as being the target of anuclear attack during the (fictional) Atomic Wars of the 1950s.
Local legend places Colchester as the seat ofKing Cole (or Coel) of the rhymeOld King Cole, a legendary ancient king of Britain. The name Colchester is fromLatin: the place-name suffixeschester,cester, andcaster derive from the Latin wordcastrum (fortified place). In folk etymology the name Colchester was thought of as meaning Cole's Castle[who?], though this theory does not have academic support. In the legend Helena, the daughter of Cole, married theRomansenatorConstantius Chlorus, who had been sent by Rome as an ambassador and was named as Cole's successor. Helena's son became EmperorConstantine I. Helena was canonised asSaintHelena of Constantinople and is credited with finding theTrue Cross and the remains ofthe 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 – St Helena's – 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] of the rhymeHumpty 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 isTwinkle Twinkle Little Star, which was written byJane 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,[116] following a campaign by Sir Bob Russell.
Colchester has also been suggested as one of the potential sites ofCamelot,[117] on account of having been the capital of Roman Britain and its ancient name ofCamulodunum: this is not considered likely by academics, as in Arthurian times Colchester was under Saxon control.
^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.
^ab"Crown Office – The Gazette". 29 September 2022.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.
^"UK's oldest town officially becomes newest city". BBC News. 23 November 2022This 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.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
^"Search Results".Essexcountystandard.co.uk.Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved8 May 2018.
^abcdefghCrummy, Philip (1997) City of Victory; the story of Colchester – Britain's first Roman town. Published by Colchester Archaeological Trust (ISBN1 897719 04 3)
^abAshdown-Hill, John (2009). Mediaeval Colchester's Lost Landmarks. Published by The Breedon Books Publishing Company Limited. (ISBN978-1-85983-686-6)
^Eilert Ekwall (1928). English River-names. Published by Oxford at the Clarendon Press. (ISBN9780198691198)
^abcdefCrummy, 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 (ISBN0-9503727-9-X)
^Wymer, J. (ed.) "Gazetteer of Mesolithic sites in England and Wales", in CBA Research Report 20
^Strachan, David (1998) Essex from the Air, Archaeology and history from aerial photographs. Published by Essex County Council (ISBN1 85281 165 X)
^P. Salway,Roman Britain (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1981), pp. 55–6
^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
^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).
^J. Nelson, ed.,The Victoria History of the County of Essex, IX (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1994), pp. 7–10
^abBritnell, R. H. (2009) [1986].Growth and Decline in Colchester, 1300–1525. Cambridge.
^Cooper, Janet; Elrington, C R, eds. (1994)."Communications".A History of the County of Essex. 9, the Borough of Colchester. London:233–237.Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved29 July 2015.
^abcdeA P Baggs; Beryl Board; Philip Crummy; Claude Dove; Shirley Durgan; N R Goose; R B Pugh; Pamela Studd; C C Thornton (1994). Janet Cooper; C R Elrington (eds.)."The Borough of Colchester".A History of the County of Essex: Volume 9: The Borough of Colchester. Institute of Historical Research.Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved28 July 2011.
^(Sources—Records of Army's Eastern Command at National Archives, Kew; Julian Foynes "East Anglia against the Tricolor 1793–1815", Poppyland Press, 2016)
^abA P Baggs; Beryl Board; Philip Crummy; Claude Dove; Shirley Durgan; N R Goose; R B Pugh; Pamela Studd; C C Thornton (1994). Janet Cooper; C R Elrington (eds.)."Modern Colchester: Introduction".A History of the County of Essex: Volume 9: The Borough of Colchester. Institute of Historical Research.Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved28 July 2011.
^(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).
^"Colchester School of Art".Colchester Institute. Retrieved30 December 2020.At Colchester School of Art we are proud to have a history dating from 1885, the year the original Art School was founded.
^Paul., Rusiecki (2008).The impact of catastrophe : the people of Essex and the First World War (1914–1920). ERO, Essex Record Office.ISBN978-1-898529-28-6.OCLC311779558.
^Report of the memorial hall and Albert School Site sub-committee (undated) no. I, Essex Records Office
^Minutes of the war memorial executive committee (16 May 1919) Essex Records Office
^abHunt, Edgar A. (1923).The Colchester war memorial souvenir.OCLC37304283.
^Minutes of the War Memorial Executive Committee (4 January 1921) Essex Records Office
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