About Colchester.

Colchester is a town in Essex, England. It has a population of 104,390 and is the oldest recorded Roman town. As such, Colchester claims to be the oldest town in Britain. It also claims to have the United Kingdom's oldest recorded market. Its is situated 56 miles northeast of London and is well connected to the capital by the A12 road and the Great Eastern Main Line.

Colchester is claimed to be the oldest recorded town in Britain on the grounds that it was mentioned by Pliny the Elder in AD77. Its Celtic name was Camulodunon, meaning 'the fortress of (the war god) Camulos'. Following the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43, a Roman legionary fortress was established and the name Camulodunon was modified to the Roman spelling of 'Camulodunum'. Camulodunum served as the first Roman capital of Britain, but was attacked and destroyed during Boudica's rebellion in AD 61. Sometime after the destruction, London became the capital of the province of Britannia but it would seem that the council of the provincial natives still met at Colchester, where the Temple to the Divine Claudius served as the seat of this council.

In 1648, during the Second English Civil War, a Royalist army led by Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle entered the town. A pursuing Parliamentary army led by Sir Thomas Fairfax besieged the town for eleven and a half weeks. Finally, The Royalists surrendered in the late summer and their leaders Lucas and Lisle were executed in the grounds of Colchester Castle. A small obelisk now marks the spot where they fell.