A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
Colchester, parl. and mun. bor., market town, and river port, E. Essex, on S. bank of river Colne, 52 miles NE. of London by rail, 11,314 ac., pop. 28,374; 4 Banks, 7 newspapers. Market-day, Saturday. C. is of great antiquity. It was the Camalodunum of the Romans; the Colneceaster of the Saxons; and a favourite stronghold of the Danes. The Roman walls remain almost entire, and Roman remains, including villas, with tesselated pavements, hypocausts, and baths, Samian pottery, and coins, have been found in the greatest profusion. The castle (12th century) is the largest Norman keep in England. C. is the centre of a large agricultural district, and has extensive corn and cattle markets. Corn, malt, and oysters are exported from its port and suburb, Hythe, 15 miles from the sea. (For shipping statistics, see Appendix.) The oyster fishery, however, is not so extensive as it once was. The baize mfr. has also declined, and is superseded by silk, more especially the kind employed for umbrellas. Among the minor industrial establishments are flour-mills, engineering works, rope-yards, and lime-kilns. C. returns 1 member to Parl.
(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))
| Linked entities: | |
|---|---|
| Feature Description: | "parliamentary and municipal borough, market town, and river port" (ADL Feature Type: "cities") |
| Administrative units: | Colchester CP Essex AncC |
| Place: | Colchester |
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