On one of the days where we had the beautiful long holiday weekend in April, I paid a visit to Colchester Castle for the first time. The castle itself is a Norman castle and dates from the 1100s, but the history of this piece of land and the foundations date back much further and to the Roman times (about 60AD). Today, the castle is a museum that mainly showcases the history of Colchester with a large selection of Roman era artefacts, and visitors can also pay a separate fee to visit the older foundations and walk on the roof top of the castle for a view.
The castle itself is located in the beautiful grounds and park area, known as Castle Park. This is built on a hillside. The castle itself fell into ruin but was miraculously restored over the years. In more recent times, the restorer housed items discovered in or around Colchester, which later became the museum. Now, people know the importance of the town of Colchester in Roman times and the importance of the area before the Romans.
The museum in the castle keep mainly focuses on pre-history and Roman history of the town. Below are a couple of gravestones of Roman soldiers who died in battles with the locals.
The items below were some artefacts that were offerings. There were graves on display and contents of a doctor's grave, personal possessions, pottery, and so much more on display.
One of the other selections on display was a hoard of jewelry found hidden. These items most likely belonged to retired Roman soldier and his wife. They would have hidden their items and then fleed during the Boudicca uprising, when the town was burned. The owners never returned to claim their jewelry possibly because they were killed.
Roman glass and pottery, gladiators, coins, and urns made up of some of the exhibitions.
The below is a grave with charred bones in an urn. The coffin has a pipe going into it. The pipe is to accept offerings or coins.
After the museum, I had the tour of the castle. The tour started on the main floor near the well at the start of the keep. Then, the first part of the tour was of the old foundations, which were constructed by the Romans (or their slaves, which would have been the local populations most likely). The foundations were made using local stone, dug deep to sustain the largest Roman building/temple in Britain.
The graves above were from just outside the city walls but moved here.
After learning about the Roman temple and how it came to be reused for the castle's foundations, I went to the rooftop to see the view over Colchester.
After this, I had a walk around the beautiful gardens here.
I recommend a tour of the castle as well as a visit to the museum, which is really fascinating if you enjoy Roman and pre-Roman history. This part of Britain has come up with some amazing findings. The castle is located in the centre of Colchester, and it's also not far from St. Botolph's Priory ruins.
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