David Radford - Colchester, Fortress of the War God: an Archaeological Assessment

Published by
oxbow Books, oxford, UK

oxbow Books, english heritage and the individual authors, 2013

ISBN 978-1-84217-508-8
EPUB ISBN: 978-1-78297-075-0
PRC ISBN: 978-1-78297-076-7

Cover image: A view across the late Iron Age defences at sheepen, Colchester c AD 25
( Peter Froste. All rights reserved, DACs 2013)

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gascoyne, Adrian.
An assessment of the archaeology of Colchester : fortress of the war god / by Adrian Gascoyne and David radford ;
with contributions from Philip Crummy, Nina Crummy, rosalind Niblett, Dave stenning, steve Benfield, Peter Murphy
and Andrew Phillips ; edited by Philip J. Wise.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-84217-508-8
1. Colchester (england)--Antiquities. 2. excavations (Archaeology)--england--Colchester. I. radford, David. II. Wise,
Philip J., editor. III. title.
DA690.C7G37 2013
942.6'72301--dc23

2012044282

Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Berforts Information Press ltd, eynsham, oxfordshire

It is a beautiful, populous, and pleasant place, extended on the brow of an hill from west to east, and surrounded with walls, and adorned with fifteen churches In the middle of the city, stands a castle ready to drop with age

William Camden 1586 (Britannia, 4th edn, 1772, p 356)

May I venture, Sir, to take this opportunity of calling the attention of the Town Council of Colchester to the general state of the more important ancient remains which render your town so attractive to the antiquary and to the historian? Some of them, for instance, the Town Walls and the Castle, might be increased in interest by excavations judiciously conducted. A small grant of money, placed under the control of one or two of the many active and intelligent antiquarians of the locality, would but be productive of discoveries, which, while they would especially gratify the archaeologist, would doubtless be advantageous to the town at large, and increase its prosperity.

Charles Roach Smith (Gentlemans Magazine, January 1854, pp 701)

List of Illustrations

List of Figures

Introduction

1 The history of archaeology in Colchester

2 The UAD and Deposit Model

3 Prehistoric Colchester

4 Camulodunon in the late Iron Age, c 50AD

5 The Roman legionary fortress, AD 4349

6 The early Roman colonia, AD 4961

7 The later Roman town, AD 61410

8 Early Anglo-Saxon Colchester, 410916

9 Late Anglo-Saxon Colchester, 9171066

10 Early medieval Colchester, 10661348

11 Late medieval Colchester, 13491540

12 Post-medieval Colchester, 15401700

13 Post-1700 Colchester

List of Tables

Foreword

Three simple letters - CAM appear on certain coins minted in Britain shortly before the birth of Christ. These letters confer on Colchester the signal distinction of being the oldest recorded town in the British Isles, because CAM is an abbreviation of Camulodunon, the Celtic name (later rendered in Latin as Camulodunum) for the place we now know as Colchester. These coins were almost certainly minted here, because Camulodunum was a capital for British tribal kings before the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD. It was then the place where the victorious Roman emperor Claudius accepted the submission to Roman rule of a number of British tribes. Camulodunum subsequently became a Roman colonia (a settlement for retired legionary soldiers) and was one of the most important cities in the Roman province of Britannia. In Saxon and medieval times it became a significant regional centre, a role that Colchester retains to this day.

Given this long and illustrious history, it is no surprise that Colchester has a rich archaeological and historical heritage. Archaeologists and antiquarians have been collecting information about Colchesters past since the 16th century. The town has many monuments and historic buildings, while much more has lain hidden until uncovered by archaeological excavations. The history of archaeological research in Colchester, as in many other places, has been closely bound up with discoveries made during development and expansion of the town. Important excavations were carried out in the 1930s, and then again from the 1950s onwards. The pace of activity has quickened in recent decades, with some 157 archaeological interventions having taken place in the Borough since 1990. Planning permission for new development is now routinely linked to a requirement for archaeological work before building starts, so there is a steady stream of important new information coming to light.

This is the background to the present volume. It is a product of a long-term English Heritage programme, launched in 1992 under the title Managing the UrbanArchaeological Resource. One part of that programme has been to carry out detailed studies of the archaeology of 35 selected major historic towns and cities in England. Colchester was, naturally enough, one of the places chosen. From the start, the project was envisaged as having three stages. The first was to compile a detailed Urban Archaeological Database (or UAD), linked to computerised mapping, of archaeological excavations and discoveries in Colchester. The UAD is held by Colchester Borough Council. The second stage was to produce a synthesis (an Urban Archaeological Assessment) of this mass of material. The present volume is the result of that work. The third and final stage was to produce a strategy for the future care and appreciation of Colchesters archaeological and historic heritage. Some work has been done on this, but frequent changes in the planning system in recent years have impeded the completion and adoption of such a strategy. This remains an important task for the Borough.

This volume therefore represents the culmination of a long-term process. The Colchester UAD was compiled between 1998 and 2000, with subsequent updates in the following years. The first draft of this volume was completed in 2002 but staff changes and other pressures meant that it was not possible to submit the manuscript until 2011. The long gestation of the volume is a testament to the difficulties of undertaking synthesis of archaeological results on this scale. There have been many hundreds of archaeological excavations, observations and discoveries in Colchester since the 18th century, and drawing these together into an accessible narrative has been a major task. The value of having achieved this synthesis lies in the fact that there is now, in this volume, a comprehensive and authoritative summary of the archaeology of Colchester, fully supported by a detailed bibliography, gazetteer and cross-references to the Colchester UAD for anyone who wishes to follow up the original sources.

The appearance of this volume is in itself a considerable tribute to the efforts of its authors. Warm thanks are to be extended to the main authors, David Radford and Adrian Gascoyne, who did much of the basic work of distilling the contents of the Colchester UAD which they themselves had compiled into an integrated narrative-based account. Very considerable thanks are also due to the other contributors to the volume (Philip Crummy, Nina Crummy, Rosalind Niblett, Dave Stenning, Steve Benfield, Peter Murphy and Andrew Phillips) for their hard and diligent work, which has brought much detailed and specialist knowledge and insight to the text. The greatest debt of gratitude, however, is owed to Philip Wise, who co-ordinated the work on the volume throughout, and who has made a major contribution by bringing together and editing the contributions of each of the authors. Without Philips great determination and many hours of hard work, fitted in around other duties in Colchester Museum, it is quite possible that the volume would never have seen the light of day. On behalf of English Heritage, at whose suggestion the project was carried out, I would like to thank all of these people.