The Town
Most visitors start off at the town's rugged, honey-coloured Castle , the perfect introduction to Colchester's long history, set in attractive parkland, which stretches down to the River Colne. Begun less than ten years after the Battle of Hastings, it boasts a phenomenally large keep - the largest in Europe at the time - built on the site of the defunct Roman temple. The castle's museum (Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 11am-5pm; GBP3.90) contains the best of the region's Romano-British archeological finds, although, apart from a fine bronze of Mercury, the messenger of the gods, this amounts to little more than a smattering of coins, tombstones, statues and mosaics. The museum also covers the Boudicca revolt and the 1648 siege, and you can sign up for a guided tour of the underground tunnels (45min; GBP1.20), which give access to the foundations of the Roman temple and the Norman chapel and walls - parts not otherwise accessible to regular visitors. Outside, down towards the river in Castle Park is a section of the old Roman walls , whose battered remains are still visible around much of the town centre. The castle stands at the eastern end of the wide, and largely pedestrianized, High Street , which lies pretty much along the same route as it did in Roman times. The most arresting building here is the flamboyant Town Hall , built in 1902 and topped by a statue of St Helena, mother of Constantine the Great and daughter of "Old King Cole" of nursery-rhyme fame - after whom, some say, the town was named. Immediately north of the High Street is the so-called Dutch Quarter , where Flemish refugees settled in the sixteenth century giving a boost to the town's ailing cloth trade. The area's lofty buildings still make this a pleasant place to stroll, particularly along West and East Stockwell streets. South of the High Street, much of the medieval street plan has been subsumed within a vast open-air shopping precinct, complete with three separate indoor shopping centres and an open-air market held every Friday and Saturday in Vineyard Street. With a little time to spare, it's worth strolling down East Hill , a continuation of the High Street east of the castle. Splendid Georgian houses line the top end of the hill, one of which - opposite the tourist office - is now the Hollytrees Museum (Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 11am-5pm; free), containing a modest collection of costumes, toys, domestic items, trade implements and decorative arts from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Over the road at the Minories (April-Sept Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 11am-5pm; rest of year closed Sun; free) another Georgian exterior conceals a contemporary arts centre, with a changing exhibition programme, a garden and a great cafe. Just along the street, Priory Galleries sells the work of local artists, and is well worth a look.
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