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Find a Job or Jobs in Essex Jobs based in Basildon, Chelmsford, Clacton, Colchester,
Epping, Halstead, Harlow, Harwich, Maldon, Ilford, Romford, Southend, Braintree and Brentwood. |
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Colchester is a town, and the largest settlement within the borough
of Colchester, in Essex, England. As the oldest recorded Roman town, Colchester
claims to be the oldest town in Britain. It 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.
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 Old
English: 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 corpulence.
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.) 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 England and its ancient name of Camulodunon. |
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