Churches in Colchester facts for kids
Colchester, a town in Essex, England, has many interesting churches. Some are very old, while others are more modern. Let's explore some of them!
Early Churches
Butt Road Roman Church
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In the 1980s, during digging for a new police station, workers found 371 Roman graves and a long building. This building was built between AD 320 and 340. It faced east to west, and later, a rounded end (called an apse) was added. Inside, a wooden screen divided the building, and two rows of posts made walkways (aisles). Many believe this building was one of Britain's first Christian churches. If so, it's probably the oldest Christian church found in Britain! You can still see these old remains from a public path today.
St Helen's Chapel
This chapel is named after Saint Helena. An old book from the 1300s, the Chronicle of Colchester, says that Saint Helena herself started the chapel. It was then rebuilt by Eudo Dapifer in 1076. Most of the building you see today is from the 1100s and 1200s. It even uses old Roman bricks!
Digging in 1981 and 1984 showed that the Roman stones under the walls were once part of a theatre. In the 1300s, special chapels were set up inside. But in 1539, after the Dissolution of St John's Abbey, the chapel was closed. It was then used for many different things: a house, a school, a library, a Quaker meeting-house, and even a warehouse.
In the 1880s, the Round family, who owned Colchester Castle, had the chapel fixed up by William Butterfield. After that, it was used for clergy meetings and as a church hall. Later, the Castle Museum used it for storage. Since 2000, it has been used again for worship by the Eastern Orthodox community.
Medieval Churches
All Saints
All Saints’ Church is a very old church from the 1100s, located on Colchester High Street. In 1953, it was decided that the church was no longer needed for worship. Today, the building is home to the Natural History Museum, Colchester. It is right across from Colchester Castle. The church has a beautiful tower made of flint from the 1400s. However, most of the church was rebuilt in the mid-1800s.
St Botolph's Priory
The Augustinian priory of St Botolph was also started in the 1000s. Around 1200, it became the main church for the Augustinian Order in Britain. When the Dissolution of the Monasteries happened, St Botolph's church became the local parish church. It was also used by the town for important events until the English Civil War. In 1650, after the Siege of Colchester, the church was described as burned and ruined. It has been left in ruins ever since. For a while, people went to All Saints’ Church instead, but they still buried people in St Botolph's churchyard.
St Giles, St John's Green
This church was built around 1150 on part of St John's Abbey cemetery. It has parts from every century since then. It was no longer used as a church in 1956. Then it became a St. John Ambulance depot until 1975. After that, it was changed into a masonic centre.
Holy Trinity
Holy Trinity is the oldest church building still standing in Colchester. It is on Trinity Street in the town centre. Parts of the church tower are Anglo-Saxon, thought to be from about 1020. The Saxon doorway on the west side of the tower has a triangular top. This was common in Anglo-Saxon windows but unusual for a doorway. There might have been an even older church on this spot before. The churchyard has the graves of famous people like William Gilberd, who discovered electromagnetism and was a doctor to Queen Elizabeth I. The composer John Wilbye is also buried there.
St James the Great
St James the Great is a Church of England church on East Hill in Colchester. The oldest part of the church is Norman, from the 1100s. The main part of the church (nave), the tower, and two side sections (aisles) were built between the 1200s and 1400s. The chancel (the area around the altar) and the Chapels of Our Lady and Saint Peter and Saint Paul were added around 1500. The famous priest John Ball, a leader of the Peasants' Revolt in 1381, preached at this church.
St John's Abbey
The Benedictine abbey of St John the Baptist, known as "St John's Abbey," was started in 1096. It had a church from the late 1000s. But during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the abbey was closed, and its abbot (head monk) was put to death in 1539. Now, all that is left is the gatehouse on St John's Green, which is from the 1400s. The church of St Giles was also used as the parish church for the abbey.
St Martin's
St Martin's is a church from the 1100s that still looks like its original Norman design. The church is on West Stockwell Street in the old Dutch Quarter. Its tower was damaged during the English Civil War and was never fixed. Today, the church building is looked after by The Churches Conservation Trust. It is used as a place for community events. You can get the key to visit from the Colchester Borough Council museum service.
St Mary-at-the-Walls
On Church Street, near Balkerne Hill, is St Mary-at-the-Walls. It was built against the old Roman walls and looks out over the west side of the town. First mentioned in 1206, this church has a very interesting history. It was a place where 23 Protestant people were sadly put to death for their beliefs during the time of Queen Mary I.
During the English Civil War, a Royalist army used the church tower to place their guns. This led to its destruction by the New Model Army during the Siege of Colchester. There's a theory that the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty is about this tower, but it's probably not true. The lower part of the tower is Norman. The upper parts were rebuilt in 1729 and the very top in 1911. The rest of the church was rebuilt in 1872.
In 1978, the church joined with Christ Church in a new building. The old St Mary's church was no longer used for worship. Its bell was moved to St Leonard's in Lexden, and its organ went to Brentwood Cathedral. In 1980, the building reopened as the Colchester Arts Centre.
St Nicholas
Saint Nicholas' church used to stand on the High Street. The first church was from the 1100s. It was rebuilt in the 1300s and then fixed up again between 1875 and 1876. This church had the tallest spire in Colchester. The Church of England decided to take down the church in 1955. The land was then sold for new buildings. The Colchester Co-operative Society built a department store called "St Nicholas House" on the site.
St Runwald's
St Runwald's church is one of only three churches in Britain ever named after this Saint. The church in Colchester used to be part of a row of buildings in the High Street. It was taken down, along with other buildings, in the 1860s. The church graveyard is still there, in West Stockwell Street, behind Colchester Town Hall.
St Peter's
St Peter's is a Medieval church on North Hill. It was largely changed in 1758, so it looks more Georgian now. But it still has some older parts from the Middle Ages. It was changed again in 1895–96. In Medieval times, the churchyard had a large stone cross where gospels were read during the Palm Sunday procession. The church also had a big screen (rood screen) with a loft. The bells are rung every Thursday.
St Leonard's-at-the-Hythe
St Leonard's-at-the-Hythe is a large Medieval church at Colchester's Hythe river port. It was one of only two church buildings in Colchester that had clocks. The church was a site of a battle during the 1648 Siege of Colchester. Its south door still has small openings (firing loops) for muskets. The church is now no longer used for worship and is cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust.
Georgian Churches
Baptist Church
This church is in Eld Lane. It was built in 1834 on the same spot where Colchester's first Baptist chapel was built in 1711.
Congregational Chapel
This red-brick chapel in East Stockwell Street was built in 1816–17. It was built for Rev. Joseph Herrick, a Congregational minister. He had to leave his old meeting house because some people in his congregation became Unitarians. The front of the chapel was changed in 1834 with a triangular top (pediment) and Tuscan columns. After Rev. Herrick died, his successor, Rev. Thomas Batty, added new schoolrooms in 1868 and changed the chapel again in 1875. It has been a protected building since 1971.
Quaker Meeting House
This building in Church Street is also a protected building. It dates from 1803 and is used by the Quaker community.
Victorian Churches
St Botolph's
The current St Botolph's church building was opened in 1837. It was built to look like the old Norman building, with rounded arches and Norman decorations. It was designed by William Mason. The church was almost destroyed by fire in the 1943 air raids. It had its own team of fire watchers who put out several incendiary bombs.
Garrison Church
This large timber church was built in Military Road in 1855. It was made to hold services for soldiers going to the Crimean War. It can fit 500 people. Today, it is the Russian Orthodox Church. of St. John the Wonderworker.
St James the Less
This Roman Catholic Church of St James the Less and St Helen in Priory Street was designed in 1837 and made bigger in 1909–10. It is a Norman revival building with a rounded chancel.
St John the Evangelist
The Church of St John the Evangelist Colchester was built in 1863. It is mainly made of red brick with yellow and blue brick and stone window designs. It has a chancel and a nave with a small bellcot at the west end. The chancel and some of the nave were built with money collected in memory of J.T. Round. It has a boarded and tiled roof. In the late 1960s and 1970s, new houses were built in the St John's area. From 1980, the number of people attending the church grew steadily. The church was made much bigger in 1987. Because more people kept joining, a new church, St Luke's, was started in Highwoods. In 2012, the church built a new multi-purpose Community Centre.
United Reformed Church
This church in Lion Walk was built in 1863. It was designed in a Gothic Revival style. It was built for a Congregational community that had been meeting in Colchester since the 1600s. The 1884 Colchester earthquake damaged its steeple. The church became part of the new United Reformed Church in 1972.
Modern Churches
St Barnabas' Church, Old Heath
St Barnabas was built in 1949 on the site of an older Victorian church. The original church was in bad condition. St Barnabas is a small and friendly church. It has different services during the week, including a Sunday morning service at 10 am.
Castle Methodist Church
This 20th-century building is in Maidenburgh Street, next to Colchester Castle. It opened in 1970. It is on the spot of an older "great round meeting house" where John Wesley preached in the 1700s. A wooden pulpit that he used is kept safe in the new church.
Colchester New Church
Colchester New Church at 175 Maldon Road was built in 1924. In 1967, the church building was made bigger. The main worship area was extended, and a new school room and entrance porch were added. The architect for these new parts was Geoff P. Dawson.
