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Bed And Breakfast In Colchester
Telephone: 01206 262196
Polstead Lodge
Telephone: 01206 298246
Stratford House
Telephone: 01206 299808
West Lodge
More Information About Colchester
Colchester is a town, and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester, in Essex, England. It has a population of 104,390.[2] As the oldest recorded Roman town in the British Isles, Colchester claims to be the oldest town in Britain. It was for a time the capital of Roman Britain and also claims to have the United Kingdom's oldest recorded market. Colchester is 56 miles (90 km) northeast of London. It is connected to the capital by the A12 road and the Great Eastern Main Line. Recent history The £22.7m eight-mile A120 Colchester Eastern Bypass opened in June 1982. Colchester and the surrounding area is currently undergoing significant regeneration.[6] Colchester Town Watch [1] was founded in 2001 to provide a ceremonial guard for the Mayor of Colchester and for civic events such as the Oyster Feast. The historic re-enactors wear a livery based on late Elizabethan dress. Colchester Town Watch is accompanied by the musicians of the Colchester Town Waits [2] - a musical tradition dating back to the 14th century. Culture Museums Colchester houses several museums. The Castle Museum, found within Colchester Castle, features an extensive exhibit on Roman Colchester. Nearby are Hollytrees Museum, a social history museum with children's exhibits in the former home of Charles Gray, and the town's Natural History Museum, located in the former All Saints' Church. Tymperley's Clock Museum, located in the town centre in a 15th century timber-framed house, once home to William Gilbert, now houses the Bernard Mason clock collection. Arts Opened in 1972, the Mercury Theatre[9] is one the region's leading repertory theatres.[citation needed] Next door is Colchester Arts Centre,[10] a multi-function arts venue located in the former St Mary-at-the-Walls church, and home of the Colchester Beer Festival. Headgate Theatre is also in Colchester. firstsite is a contemporary art organisation, currently housed in the Minories, near the Castle. A new gallery, designed by Rafael Viñoly, is currently under construction nearby. Other than the Arts Centre, live music venues in Colchester include The Twist and Charter Hall. Sports The town has a professional football club, Colchester United, who compete in the Football League One and play home games at Colchester Community Stadium. Colchester United Ladies play in the FA Women's Premier League Southern Division. Other sports teams based in the town include Colchester Rugby Football Club, Colchester Gladiators American Football Club, Colchester Weight Lifting Club and Colchester & East Essex Cricket Club. Essex County Cricket Club play some of their home games at Castle Park Cricket Ground, home of Colchester & East Essex. Sports facilities in Colchester include the sports centre, Colchester Leisure World, Colchester Garrison Athletics Stadium (a co-operative facility used by both the army and civilian population), and a skatepark. Other Colchester Zoo is a large zoo based on the outskirts of the town. Also Colchester has a 24 lane state of the art Tenpin bowling centre based on Cowdray avenue, next to Leisureworld (www.tenpin.co.uk) Transport Colchester has a bus system (run by First Essex, Network Colchester, Hedingham Omnibuses and other smaller operators) which mainly centres around Colchester Temporary Bus Station in the town centre. The temporary bus station will be replaced by a permanent one further down the street by 2010. Colchester North station is served by National Express East Anglia services on the London - Norwich mainline and the Colchester - Clacton line. Colchester Town railway station, still referred to by some as St Botolph's, is on a spur from the Colchester - Clacton line, and Hythe station is also on the Clacton line. Colchester in popular culture Colchester is reputed to be the home of three of the best known English nursery rhymes: 'Old King Cole', 'Humpty Dumpty' and 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star'. Local legend places Colchester as the seat of King Cole (or Coel) of the rhyme Old King Cole, a legendary ancient king of Britain. The name Colchester is from Latin: the place-name suffixes chester, cester, and caster derive from the Latin word castrum (fortified place). In folk etymology the name Colchester was thought of as meaning Cole's Castle, though it actually means the Roman fort 'Colonia'. In the legend Helena, the daughter of Cole, married the Roman senator Constantius Chlorus, who had been sent by Rome as an ambassador and was named as Cole's successor. Helena's son became Emperor Constantine I. Helena was canonised as Saint Helena of Constantinople and is credited with finding the true cross and the remains of the Magi. She is now the patron saint of Colchester. This is recognised in the emblem of Colchester: a cross and three crowns. A local secondary school – St Helena's – is named after her, and her statue is atop the town hall, although local legend is that it was originally a statue of Blessed Virgin Mary which was later fitted with a cross. Colchester is also the most widely credited source of the rhyme Humpty Dumpty. During the siege of Colchester in the Civil War, a Royalist sniper known as One-Eyed Thompson sat in the belfry of the church of St Mary-at-the-Walls (Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall) and was given the nickname Humpty Dumpty, most likely because of his size, Humpty Dumpty being a common insult for the overweight. Thompson was shot down (Humpty Dumpty had a great fall) and, shortly after, the town was lost to the Parliamentarians (all the king's horses and all the king's men / couldn't put Humpty together again.) Another version says that Humpty Dumpty was a cannon on the top of the church. The church of St Mary-at-the-Walls still retains its Norman tower until the top few feet, which are a Georgian repair. The third rhyme to come from Colchester is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which was written by Jane Taylor in the town's Dutch Quarter, and published in 1806 with the title "The Star". Colchester has also 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. In George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, the main character, Winston Smith, thinks back to his childhood and his first memories of war, recalling: "Perhaps it was the time when the atomic bomb had fallen on Colchester." (Part 1, Chapter 3). Visual Arts Facility In November 2008, it was announced that there was a shortfall in money to complete the building of the new controversial Visual Arts Facility (Colchester's new multi-million pound arts centre). It was predicited that the total cost would be £25.5 million – £9 million more than the original estimated cost. The building currently sits uncompleted [3]. Recent history The £22.7m eight-mile A120 Colchester Eastern Bypass opened in June 1982. Colchester and the surrounding area is currently undergoing significant regeneration.[6] Colchester Town Watch [1] was founded in 2001 to provide a ceremonial guard for the Mayor of Colchester and for civic events such as the Oyster Feast. The historic re-enactors wear a livery based on late Elizabethan dress. Colchester Town Watch is accompanied by the musicians of the Colchester Town Waits [2] - a musical tradition dating back to the 14th century. 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. There are notable medieval ruins in Colchester, including the surviving gateway of the Benedictine abbey of St. John the Baptist (know locally as "St. John's Abbey”), and the ruins of the Augustinian priory of St. Botolph (known locally as “St. Botolph's Priory"). In 1189, Colchester was granted its first Royal Charter by King Richard I (Richard the Lionheart.) The charter was granted at Dover with the King about to embark on one of his many journeys away from England. The borough celebrated the 800th anniversary of its charter in 1989.[3] Between 1550 and 1600, a large number of weavers and clothmakers from Flanders emigrated to Colchester and the surrounding areas. They were famed for the production of Bays and Says cloth. An area in Colchester town centre is still known as the Dutch Quarter and many buildings there date from the Tudor period. During this period Colchester was one of the most prosperous wool towns in England. The old Roman wall runs along Northgate Street in the Dutch Quarter. Victorian Colchester Colchester is noted for its Victorian architecture. Significant landmarks include the Colchester Town Hall and the Jumbo Water Tower. In 1884 the town was struck by the Colchester earthquake, estimated to have been 4.7 on the Richter Scale causing extensive regional damage. The Paxman diesels business has been associated with Colchester since 1865 when James Noah Paxman founded a partnership with the brothers Henry and Charles Davey ('Davey, Paxman, and Davey') and opened the Standard Ironworks. In 1925 Paxman produced its first spring injection oil engine and joined the English Electric Diesel Group in 1966 - later becoming part of the GEC Group. Since the 1930s the Paxman company's main business has been the production of diesel engines.
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