Colchester: England's Oldest Recorded Town and What’s Happening Now

Colchester, England's oldest recorded town, founded by the Romans in 43 AD and once the capital of Britannia. Also known as Camulodunum, it’s where the first Roman temple in Britain was built—and where modern life still hums alongside ancient walls. You won’t find skyscrapers here, but you will find cobbled streets that have seen emperors, rebels, and everyday people walk the same paths for nearly 2,000 years.

Colchester sits in Essex, a county just northeast of London with a mix of rural villages, commuter towns, and historic market centers. It’s not just a museum piece—Colchester is a living town with new housing developments, a growing arts scene, and local debates over transport upgrades and school funding. The Colchester Castle, a Norman keep built on the foundations of the Roman Temple of Claudius, now houses a museum that draws visitors from across the UK. It’s one of the most intact Roman sites in Europe, and locals still argue whether it should get more funding or stay quietly preserved.

News about Colchester doesn’t always make national headlines, but it matters deeply to the people who live here. From debates over the A12 upgrades to the reopening of the Mercury Theatre after renovations, from rising property prices pushing out long-term residents to the annual Colchester Carnival bringing in 30,000 visitors, this town is quietly changing. Local papers like the Essex Live and community boards are where you’ll find the real pulse—not the national news.

And while Colchester isn’t in London, it’s close enough that its story connects to bigger ones: the cost of living crisis, the decline of high streets, the push for green energy projects, and how small towns are adapting to a digital age. You’ll find posts here about Colchester’s role in regional politics, how its Roman heritage influences modern planning, and why its train station is suddenly a hot topic again.

What you’ll find below isn’t a list of generic UK headlines—it’s a curated collection of stories that actually touch Colchester: the people, the places, the decisions that shape life here. Whether you’re a resident, a history buff, or someone considering a move, these articles give you the real context—not the noise.