Colchester Drawers

     This past week I went to Colchester with Jay to visit a city he spent a ton of his youth in. Jay went to school there for more than ten years, but we spent very little time at his former school and more time wandering all of the best bits of this lovely city, and discovering pieces of ancient history everywhere we looked. First a bit of background on Colchester: It is the oldest recorded town in England, being first recorded by Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder in AD 79, almost two thousand years ago (there is evidence, however, of a tribal settlement dating back three thousand years). In those days it was called Camulodenum which stems from the ancient Celtic language and its meaning was "The fortress of Camulos, god of war."  The Romans conquered Britain, which was inhabited at the time by Briton tribes, and much like Native Americans in North America, they struggled to maintain their identity, lands, and way of life. Camulodenum was the Roman capitol of Britain, not London (Londinium), which is the capitol now. To give this some perspective in terms of history, Pliny the Elder was mentioning Camulodenum less than one generation removed from Christ, and during the lives of the Apostles. The Apostle Paul was writing his letters as the Roman wall was being built in Ancient Colchester.

     Well, back to our day in the town. As soon as we parked the car the first thing that greeted us from across the highway was The Roman Wall. Now the wall itself is actually bits and chunks of wall strewn about the city, so it probably wasn't all one continuous wall, but rather the main walls that made up a Roman fortress town, and later a proper colony. The wall existed to protect the inhabitants from the savage Briton tribes to desperately sought to overthrow Roman rule. It's amazing enough that bits of wall are still standing after so much time, and the fact that they are so big and solid are a testament to Roman engineering. They cut and laid each stone, and they didn't have the luxury of cement (which hadn't been invented yet). They used whatever stone they could find. Over the centuries the pieces of walls have been bolstered by newer brick which easily stands out. When I first saw it I immediately reached out my hand to touch it. I don't know what I was expecting to feel, but I just though "what if I could go back and see all the things this wall has seen... how amazing would that be!?"

The wall in this location is more than twice the size of me!

That's more than 11 feet tall and a good 5 to 6 feet thick too.

It had to be big if it was going to protect all the people within.

The Western Gate in to Roman Colchester, circa AD 200.

The largest surviving gateway in Roman Britain.

It's called The Balkerne Gate, or more commonly The Hole in the Wall.

     At another location in Colchester there is another long stretch of Roman wall, this one smaller, but easier to climb all over (which I obviously did, because I can't just leave history well enough alone). being able to get up close to the wall means I was able to notice things that would not have been noticeable had there been a barrier forcing me to keep my distance. For instance, I saw that all of the ancient stones (meaning not the brick bits) were a mish-mosh of whatever they could find, including quartz, agate, and chunks of sea floor, complete with shells imbedded in it.

These two photos show a quartz stone and a sea-floor stone,

with small shells imbedded in it (which, when you're

climbing the wall, are dang sharp!)

This photo is of a stone that took me utterly by surprise.

When I first saw it I looked at Jay and said

"Is that a fossil?" he said "****, wow, it is."

So yea, you can find all sorts of goodies at the wall.

A model of the burning of the Roman temple at the Colchester Castle Museum.

     Here's an important piece of information: The Roman town of Camulodunum was dominated by a massive temple, which acted as the religious and economic center of Roman Britain. In the first century the temple became the site of a bloody massacre at the hands of Queen Boudica, who led an army of Britons to sack the city, killing 30,000 people. After many more victories she was later defeated by the Romans. Boudica has lived on in British myth and legend as a hero, with homages to her showing up all over the place, like the huge statue of her and her daughters across from the Houses of Parliament in London.

     Now standing on the site of the temple is Colchester Castle. It was commissioned by William the Conqueror, the first King of England, and designed by his Bishop of Rochester, Gundulf (not Gandalf) in AD 1069. Many of the bricks used are from dismantled Roman structures. In it's later history, after it was no longer used as a royal residence, the building has been used as a jail several times, a town hall, and a grain storage facility. Once it was even condemned, with the bricks valued at only £5 but not worth the labor to dismantle it. It was eventual purchase in the 1720's on behalf of the local MP, and it remained as part of his family's private estate for several generations until it formally became a museum. Within the museum is housed artifacts from archaeological sites all over Colchester. These artifacts span the long history of civilizations that have lived in the are, like the remains of the Roman temple and ancient tools and weapons.

There are a few large floor mosaics dating back to Roman occupation.

This one is one of the most complete.

Many bronze artifacts dug up are tools and armor.

     As we went walking through and around Colchester we'd periodically pass by some pretty old looking churches. One called St. Martins, had a sign out front welcoming visitors inside, so we decided to check it out. The nave (main sanctuary) and tower of the church date back to the 12th century, but like with the castle, many of the stones are Roman and were taken from former Roman structures. The tower outside was partially destroyed in the 1640's during the English Civil War (remember out friend Comwell?) A plaque inside the church instructs visitors to look outside for bullets still embedded in the tower. Nowadays St. Martins is used primarily as a community art center. There have been no services held there since the mid-18th century. Many churches have been made redundant in England due to people moving out of cities and into suburbs. It's sad to me that this church isn't being used anymore but it's great that it's still standing and open to visitors.

The inside of St. Martins there are pieces of Medieval wall paintings

that The Churches Conservation Trust are working to restore.

     Another fantastic Christian location in Colchester is St. Boltoph's Priory, which was the first Augustinian monastery in England. It was built AD 1103. The Priory closed in AD 1536 with King Henry VIII dissolution of the monasteries (as part of breaking away from the Catholic Church), but the building still survived as a church until the sacking of Colchester in the 1640's. Just like St. Martins, St. Boltophs was destroyed by Cromwell's forces during the English Civil War. The ruins remain, offering and amateur photographer a million stunning views. 

 

You definitely get a sense from these photos how spectacular this building used to be.

     So that just about cover's my trip to gorgeous Colchester. I hope you really liked it. I had a fabulous time get up close and personal with Ancient and Medieval British history. I loved every minute even more because, as you can see, it was a sunny, warm Spring day. The only thing that could have made it better was you guys! I miss you both and wish we could have gone adventuring in Colchester together!

Love You!

~Auntie~