Did you know what the oldest city in Britain is? For those of you who guessed London you’d be wrong. Heading over to Essex is Colchester, the oldest city in Britain and occupies the site of Camulodunum, the former capital of Roman Britain.
Founded in AD49 by Emperor Claudius, Camulodunum was the first site in Britain that was given the status of Roman Colonia. A colonia were settlements that secured a Roman outpost on conquered territory, all citizens of which were also Roman citizens and had all the privileges that Roman citizenship had.
Despite Colchester occupying the site of the oldest Roman capital in the country, its city status was something it only recently achieved. Colchester had been a town up until 2022 when, to mark Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, it was named a city. Its historical significance was one of the reasons for its shiny new city status and came after previous attempts by Colchester to gain the status in 1992, 2000, 2002, and 2012.
In AD61, Camulodunum was attacked by Queen Boudica’s tribe, the Iceni, which destroyed large parts of the settlement. Although the attack was ultimately unsuccessful as the tribe lacked the discipline and tactics of the Romans, the capital was relocated to Londinium.
Today, many ruins of Roman Colchester have survived making it a fantastic day trip with plenty of things to see and do, particularly for all you history buffs. Long stretches of the Roman wall still stand, you’ll find them on Balkerne Hill along with segments of two of the five Roman gateways. Originally constructed as a monumental arch, the Balkerne Gate now stands as the largest and oldest surviving Roman gateway in Britain.
Colchester Castle is worth a visit too, not only for its Roman connections but is an impressive Medieval building in its own right. The castle was built on the foundation of the Roman Temple of Claudius and was once upon a time the largest Roman temple in Britain which determined the large size of the castle keep that was built above.
The surviving superstructure of the temple had to be destroyed to prepare the site and Roman brick taken from nearby ruins was among the materials used to build the walls of the castle. Folks can visit the museum found inside the castle that has Roman Rooms which display artefacts from other Roman sites in Colchester, along with mosaic floors and the stone sculpture of the Colchester Sphinx.
Ruins of a Roman chariot circus, a Roman church and its graveyard, a Roman theatre and the outline of a Roman house are other historical sites of interest that you’ll find in Colchester. The city is only an hour’s train ride away or a two-hour drive from the big smoke, so hop on that train or buckle up on your wheels and head to the oldest city in Britain.