Where to Stay in Colchester, England

What is Colchester known for?

Colchester claims to be Britain's oldest town. Founded by the Romans as Camulodunum, the first capital of their British province, it still keeps stretches of Roman wall and, above them, the largest Norman keep in England at Colchester Castle. Museums fill the old streets.

History layers deep here.

What are the main landmarks in Colchester?

Colchester Castle dominates the old town. The great Norman keep sits on the foundations of a Roman temple, the largest of its kind in the country, with the Hollytrees Museum and the Firstsite gallery close by. Roman walls still ring the centre.

The Siege House, St Leonard at the Hythe, and the Church of St James and St Paul carry the later centuries through the streets.

What is the history of Colchester?

Colchester was old before England existed. The Romans built Camulodunum here as the capital of their new province, and the town has carried its history in its stones ever since. Britons burned the young colony in revolt, and the Romans raised it again behind a great wall, long stretches of which still stand.

Roads and the river drew traders to the walled town through the medieval years. On the ruins of a Roman temple, the Normans later set the huge keep of Colchester Castle. War returned more than once.

The Siege House still shows the musket scars of the bitter siege the town endured in the civil wars of the seventeenth century, when armies fought street by street. Churches rose and fell across the centuries, among them St Leonard at the Hythe by the old port and St Martin's in the centre. The town became a garrison.

The Hollytrees Museum keeps the domestic past behind its brick front. Firstsite, the modern gallery, shows contemporary art where the old town gives way to the newer streets. Roman, Norman, and modern layers press together in the centre.

Where is Colchester?

Colchester sits above a tidal river in Essex. The town spreads over low hills in the east of England, where the river winds down toward the estuary and the sea, its old core set back on the higher ground. Marsh and farmland ring the edges.

The river carried the town's trade for centuries.

What is the climate of Colchester?

Colchester lies in the dry corner of England. East Anglia gets less rain than most of the country, and the town sees mild, changeable weather, with cool grey winters and warm, unsettled summers off the North Sea. Frost is light and brief.

The coast keeps the extremes away.

How do you get to Colchester?

Fast trains reach Colchester from London. The main line up to the capital runs through the town in under an hour, making it an easy day out or a commuter base, and roads fan out across Essex from the same crossroads. Buses serve the villages around.

Most arrive by rail, straight into the old town.