New walking trails explore Colchester's Roman heritage

Maps have been created for locals and visitors, when they can return

Author: Dan GoodingPublished 19th Mar 2021

You can now use your daily exercise to learn more about Colchester's Roman history.

Two new walking trails are designed to help us travel back to the Siege of the town and explore the walls and gates.

Both trails are available on one handy pocked-sized leaflet.

They can be downloaded free of charge from visitcolchester.com/walks or a souvenir paper version can be purchased from the Visitor Information for just £1 when it re-opens in April.

What do the trails cover?

Colchester is famous for having the earliest and best-preserved Roman town walls in Britain and its rich Roman heritage attracts thousands of visitors every year.

Discover more about these famous town walls, which were built to fortify and protect the town from attack.

Journey back to AD65 when construction commenced, walk the walls and take in the significant Roman and medieval sites along the way.

The second walking trail transports you back to Colchester in the 1600's and one of the most historic and dramatic events in Colchester's rich history: the Siege of Colchester.

The trail takes the modern visitor on a tour of 12 key sites across the town to discover what happened in 1648, and how the 11-week siege left its mark on both the people of Colchester and many of its buildings.

Councillor Julie Young, Portfolio Holder for Culture and Performance and Deputy Leader of the Council, said:

"Visit Colchester's new trails take the public on a journey back in time and are a fun way to discover more of the town's rich history.

"Walk like a Roman and imagine what life may have been like for someone living in Colchester through the Siege. Colchester's history continues and lives on."

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