The largest Norman keep in Europe, built on the foundations of a Roman temple in Britain's oldest recorded town
Open to visitorscheck opening times and admission before you go
Substantial ruinsruined, but plenty survives above ground
Colchester Castle is a great square Norman keep, the big tower at the heart of a castle, and it is the largest of its kind ever built in Europe, bigger even than the White Tower at the Tower of London. The Normans put it up in the years after the Conquest, from around the 1070s, and they built it straight on top of the foundations of the Roman Temple of Claudius. That is a fitting spot, because Colchester was Camulodunum, the first capital of Roman Britain, and the town still calls itself the oldest recorded town in the country.
You can go inside; the keep is now a museum with displays on the town’s long history, and guided tours take you down into the Roman vaults beneath it. The castle sits in Castle Park, a large public park in the middle of Colchester, so it is easy to combine with a wander round town.
There is plenty of history close by. The ruins of St Botolph’s Augustinian Priory, a medieval monastery, are a short walk south. For a day in the countryside, Dedham Vale, the gentle river landscape John Constable painted, is a few miles north towards the Suffolk border.
More at the National Heritage List entry
