255:, as well as on monuments such as the tomb inscription for Gnaeus Munatius Aurelius Bassus in Rome, which mentions his time in the town as a census-officer for the Roman population. There is much evidence of activity in Colchester until the early fifth century AD, after which it becomes more scarce. Although there are scattered settlement sites, burials and artefacts in Colchester from between the fifth and ninth centuries AD there is a debate over whether it could be called a “town” in this period (see
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239:, two theatres (including Britain's largest), several Romano-British temples, Britain's only known chariot circus, Britain's first town walls, several large cemeteries and over 50 known mosaics and was home to around 30,000 people. The town is mentioned by name several times by Roman authors, including in
502:
ramparts erected around 900 A.D. enclosed some 52 hectares of settlement but fell well within the area already developed. In the same period a new more spacious reconstruction occurred upon the same grid, with cellared houses and surrounding yards. These streets remain the principal streets and lanes
455:
During the
Migration age Germanic customs, the roots of the English language and the distinctive industrial arts and construction techniques of the northern continent were transplanted into eastern Britain. Industrial activity ceased to follow Roman models of organized provincial distribution, but
497:
Modern
Southampton however did not develop with the site of Hamwih as its centre. In Ipswich it has been shown that ancient routes linked the 7th century quayside, river-crossing and early market and pottery-making areas, which grew rapidly, enclosing a burial-ground in their midst. In the 8th
450:
by 'town' is meant, originating as a densely-occupied non-rural community comprising a full range of specialized trades and occupations, with its own industrial and domestic components, serviced by a market-place and forming a centre for mercantile activity, provisioned externally from its
555:
as being the strongest claimant to the longest continually inhabited settlement in the UK. It is mentioned in the 1993 Guinness World
Records book as an example of a place with early prehistoric occupation with a comment on the difficulty of showing continuous habitation.
451:
hinterland, and so necessarily having had some form of local governance or official organization: a town-like component related economically and politically to a wider region of agrarian occupation under a single power or collective identity.
186:
having been discovered, from the
Mesolithic, the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. In the 1980s, an inventory showed that over 800 pieces of Neolithic and Bronze Age pottery have been found within the town, as well as many examples of
498:
century a planned grid of streets grew up over the cemetery site between the older roads, uniting the expanding districts. Dense Middle-Saxon structures fronted directly onto the made-up streets. The
916:
Crummy, Philip (1992) Colchester
Archaeological Report 6: Excavations at Culver Street, the Gilberd School, and other sites in Colchester 1971-85. Published by Colchester Archaeological Trust. (
1001:
Crummy, Philip (1992) Colchester
Archaeological Report 6: Excavations at Culver Street, the Gilberd School, and other sites in Colchester 1971-85. Published by Colchester Archaeological Trust (
506:
The 'city' denomination of both London and York rests partly upon the importance of their Roman antecedents, and as two of the principal seats of
Christian bishops in late Roman Britain.
1021:
Crummy, Philip (1984) Colchester
Archaeological Report 3: Excavations at Lion Walk, Balkerne Lane, and Middleborough, Colchester, Essex. Published by Colchester Archaeological Trust (
401:, is to be the 'oldest English town', and is made in a quite specific sense. Within the Borough boundaries of modern Ipswich, and in its vicinity, there is plentiful evidence of
134:
town. However as of 2019 (possibly pre-empting its grant of city status in 2022) it has begun claiming the title of "Britain's First City". Its claim is based on a reference by
460:) reflected more localized needs, or else communications between grand households and patrons. The emergence of regional powers and kingdoms was accompanied by the growth of
464:, or regional trading-centres for the production, import and export of goods, with attendant service communities. Ipswich (Gipeswic, Yepiswyche, etc.) (in the historic
235:. Its town walls, constructed between 61 AD and 80 AD, are the oldest Roman town walls in Britain by at least 150 years. The town was home to a large classical
78:' was discovered underneath the town centre in 1991. It continued to be used as a town throughout the Roman occupation of Britain and subsequently became a
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of
Colchester, can be taken to represent the formation of a new township along distinctively early English principles. Ipswich makes that claim.
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language' (subsuming the various migrant and native peoples who coalesced in the area now called
England during the 5th to 7th centuries):
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in Berkshire is often said to be the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in Britain, since its occupation can be traced back to a
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acting as a transit route. Evidence of frogs' legs being eaten as well as 31,000 flints and animal bones have also been found.
896:
Crummy, Philip (1997) City of Victory; the story of Colchester - Britain's first Roman town. Colchester Archaeological Trust (
544:(10,000 BC – 4,000 BC). Thatcham has strong evidence that it was settled by the Romans, then Saxons, and was mentioned in the
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211:
in the first century AD, it became the most powerful Celtic kingdom in Britain. In 43 AD, the settlement was conquered by the
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led a Saxon army from Surrey, Kent and Essex to recapture the town from a Danish army that had been encamped there since the
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510:
stated that trade was busy in London in his time (540s), and in the 7th century it was focused at the Anglo-Saxon centre of
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period lake, and there is evidence of human occupation within and around Thatcham covering the past 13,000 years or more.
347:
164:. It is claimed that this is the first known reference to any named settlement in Britain, although coins minted by
857:
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by 'English' is meant 'established (as a town) and occupied by peoples collectively identified by their use of the
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on the site, the first in Britain. This was converted into the town of Colonia Victricensis in 49 AD, becoming the
148:
461:
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town, but at its core was and is the oldest still continuing town to have been established and developed by the
106:
949:
Wilson, Roger J. A. (2002) A Guide to the Roman Remains in Britain (Fourth Edition). Published by Constable. (
440:
by 'oldest' is meant 'first originated or established', and also 'still continuing and existing on that site':
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settlement, named Sevekesham (or Seovechesham) at a time when most other Roman cities were being abandoned.
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is claimed to be Britain's oldest settlement, dating back to 8820 BC according to a project led by the
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Wymer, J. (1977) (ed.) "Gazetteer of Mesolithic sites in England and Wales", in CBA Research Report 20
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of modern Ipswich, and it is not thought that the community has ever been abandoned or deserted.
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Faulkner, Neil (1994). "Late Roman Colchester", in Oxford Journal of Archaeology 13(1)
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490:) through the 7th and 8th centuries, as Hamwih served the north French sea routes to
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There is strong evidence to support the case that people settled in Thatcham in the
482:), emerging as a primary community serving the kingdom's trade activity towards the
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occupation. But the claim of Ipswich is grounded upon the fact that it never was an
433:. It has an unbroken history of community as a town since early Anglo-Saxon times.
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Archaeological evidence near Colchester has been dated to the Palaeolithic, with
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as "about 200 miles (322 km) from Camulodunum, a town in Britain", where
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Todd, Malcolm. (1981) Roman Britain; 55 BC - 400 AD. Fontana Paperbacks (
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which gave the town its present name was founded in the seventh century.
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A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 4. The borough of Abingdon
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remains have been found in and around the town, and evidence of a late-
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1041:, pp 2-18, at British History Online, 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2015
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199:, which was in existence from at least the first century BC under
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109:. The place is said to have been a transport point with the
858:"Colchester rebranded as a city...even though it's a town"
769:"Amesbury in Wiltshire confirmed as oldest UK settlement"
267:, the first time Colchester is explicitly mentioned in
912:
910:
1162:
Guide to Colchester - Britain's Oldest Recorded Town
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321:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
533:hunting camp, which was discovered there beside a
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548:. Subsequently, it received medieval charters.
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468:) is thought to have been comparable to early
191:. However the origins of the town lie in the
46:) claims to be the oldest town in Britain in
16:Oldest continuous settlement in Great Britain
8:
827:"Colchester—Britain's Oldest Recorded Town"
397:, the county town of the English county of
259:). Aside from a ninth-century reference by
219:, who led the attack in person, building a
168:mention the Celtic name of the settlement,
381:Learn how and when to remove this message
23:is claimed by a number of settlements in
992:at romanbritain.org. Retrieved 2/08/2015
1137:. Guinness World Records. p. 175.
565:
271:accounts is an entry for 917 AD in the
668:sfn error: no target: CITEREFCox1987 (
649:sfn error: no target: CITEREFCox1987 (
630:sfn error: no target: CITEREFCox1987 (
613:
577:(2 ed.), Pieter Cox, p. 19,
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747:"Frontier territory along the Thames"
7:
319:adding citations to reliable sources
1120:"Thatcham is still the oldest town"
663:
644:
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257:Camulodunum § Sub-Roman Period
203:. Later, under the Celtic warlords
14:
1187:Roman towns and cities in England
1177:Archaeology of the United Kingdom
1135:The Guinness Book of Records 1993
825:Colchester Tourist Board (2011).
794:Colchester Tourist Board (2011).
551:Thatcham has a place in the 1990
700:"Guide to Abingdon, Oxfordshire"
295:
575:The Story of Abingdon: part one
306:needs additional citations for
130:claims to be Britain's oldest
1:
1077:"History of medieval Ipswich"
1039:Iron Age and Roman Colchester
856:Britain's First City switch.
1182:Prehistoric sites in England
600:The Archaeology of Abingdon
275:, when it is recorded that
231:town to have the honour of
1208:
120:
1052:Discovering Roman Britain
871:Colchester tourism site.
727:. Royal Berkshire History
474:, a forerunner of modern
281:mid to late ninth century
152:) in 77 AD. He described
38:in the English county of
1133:Matthews, Peter (1992).
688:, British History Online
330:"Oldest town in Britain"
172:, as early as 20-10 BC.
107:University of Buckingham
1099:"England's Oldest Town"
990:Colonia Camulodunensium
179:including at least six
160:was the Roman name for
1050:McCloy A., Midgley A.
796:"Culture and Heritage"
597:Thomas, Roger (2014),
573:Cox, Mieneke (2013) ,
553:Guinness World Records
466:Kingdom of East Anglia
21:oldest town in Britain
749:. British Archaeology
413:, other prehistoric,
277:King Edward the Elder
273:Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
48:continuous settlement
535:Post-glacial rebound
315:improve this article
831:visitcolchester.com
800:visitcolchester.com
456:(in the absence of
253:Ravenna Cosmography
241:Ptolemy's Geography
1097:Hills, Catherine.
873:"visit colchester"
407:Upper Palaeolithic
403:Lower Palaeolithic
249:Antonine Itinerary
225:provincial capital
221:legionary fortress
195:tribal capital of
149:Historia Naturalis
837:on 5 January 2013
584:978-1-78280-145-0
480:Kingdom of Wessex
478:(in the historic
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313:Please help
308:verification
305:
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243:, Tacitus's
229:pre-Boudican
213:Roman Empire
196:
189:worked flint
174:
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52:Palaeolithic
47:
34:
20:
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614:Thomas 2014
476:Southampton
445:Old English
371:August 2021
201:Addedomarus
197:Camulodunon
177:flint tools
170:Camulodunon
166:Tasciovanus
158:Camulodunum
123:Camulodunum
97:along with
40:Oxfordshire
1171:Categories
731:18 January
725:"Abingdon"
560:References
531:mesolithic
500:Viking Age
341:newspapers
265:Caer Colun
162:Colchester
128:Colchester
117:Colchester
111:River Avon
99:Stonehenge
64:Bronze Age
56:Mesolithic
773:bbc.co.uk
753:2 October
709:2 October
492:Quentovic
411:Neolithic
209:Caratacus
205:Cunobelin
181:Acheulian
103:Wiltshire
60:Neolithic
44:Berkshire
1192:Thatcham
1104:2 August
1082:2 August
664:Cox 1987
645:Cox 1987
626:Cox 1987
527:Thatcham
522:Thatcham
488:Dorestad
423:Iron Age
251:and the
217:Claudius
184:handaxes
154:Anglesey
132:recorded
95:Amesbury
90:Amesbury
72:hectares
68:Iron Age
36:Abingdon
31:Abingdon
516:Colonia
512:Aldwych
462:Emporia
431:English
399:Suffolk
395:Ipswich
355:scholar
287:Ipswich
269:written
261:Nennius
245:Annales
76:oppidum
1141:
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841:19 May
810:19 May
775:. 2014
581:
508:Gildas
471:Hamwic
357:
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336:
328:
247:, The
237:temple
193:Celtic
138:, the
779:1 May
484:Rhine
415:Roman
362:JSTOR
348:books
263:to a
140:Roman
80:Saxon
1139:ISBN
1106:2015
1084:2015
1023:ISBN
1003:ISBN
971:ISBN
951:ISBN
918:ISBN
898:ISBN
843:2011
812:2011
781:2014
755:2009
733:2008
711:2009
670:help
651:help
632:help
579:ISBN
417:and
405:and
334:news
207:and
62:and
704:BBC
425:or
317:by
101:in
1173::
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384:)
378:(
373:)
369:(
359:·
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311:.
146:(
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