31 Facts About Colchester

1.

Colchester is a city in Essex, in the East of England.

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2.

Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital.

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3.

Colchester is less than 30 miles from London Stansted Airport and 20 miles from the port of Harwich.

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4.

Attractions in and around the city include Colchester United Football Club, Colchester Zoo, and several art galleries.

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5.

Colchester Castle was constructed in the eleventh century on earlier Roman foundations; it now contains a museum.

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6.

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.

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7.

Gravel hill upon which Colchester is built was formed in the Middle Pleistocene period, and was shaped into a terrace between the Anglian glaciation and the Ipswichian glaciation by an ancient precursor to the River Colne.

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8.

Colchester is surrounded by Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments that pre-date the city, including a Neolithic henge at Tendring, large Bronze Age barrow cemeteries at Dedham and Langham, and a larger example at Brightlingsea consisting of a cluster of 22 barrows.

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9.

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.

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10.

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.

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11.

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.

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12.

In 1189, Colchester was granted its first known royal charter by King Richard I, although the wording suggests that it was based on an earlier one.

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13.

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 .

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14.

The city's football team, Colchester United, moved into a brand new stadium at Cuckoo Farm in 2008.

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15.

On 29 September 2022, the letters patent was made public, with Colchester receiving city status dated 5 September 2022 by the late Queen.

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16.

Colchester is generally regarded as having an Oceanic climate like the rest of the United Kingdom.

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17.

Colchester has been an important military garrison since the Roman era.

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18.

The Colchester Garrison is currently home to the 16th Air Assault Brigade.

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19.

Since 2006, Colchester has been one of 12 places in the UK where Royal Salutes are fired to mark Royal anniversaries and visits by foreign heads of state.

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20.

The former municipal borough of Colchester contains only one parish council with the rest of Colchester Town being unparished since the parish was abolished on 1 April 1974.

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21.

Colchester United Ladies play in the FA Women's Premier League Southern Division.

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22.

Colchester Zoo is a large zoo based in the Stanway area, on the outskirts of city.

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23.

Construction of the walls of Colchester took place between 65 and 80 AD, shortly after the destruction of the undefended colonia by Boudicca, and they continued in use until after the Siege of Colchester in 1648.

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24.

Colchester is linked directly to east London and East Anglia by the A12, which is the region's main trunk route.

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25.

Colchester is the only town that was specifically mentioned as being bombed, but the book does say that many cities were destroyed in North America, Europe, and Russia.

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26.

The name Colchester is from Latin: the place-name suffixes chester, cester, and caster derive from the Latin word castrum .

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27.

In folk etymology the name Colchester was thought of as meaning Cole's Castle, though this theory does not have academic support.

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28.

Colchester is a widely credited source of the rhyme Humpty Dumpty.

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29.

Third rhyme said to have come from Colchester is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which was written by Jane Taylor who lived in the city's Dutch Quarter, and published in 1806 with the title "The Star".

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30.

Colchester has been suggested as one of the potential sites of Camelot, 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.

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31.

Colchester appears in the video game Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with the city recreated as it was in the early medieval period.

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