First Sight of the Colchester Castle Museum

The story of Colchester is told in a new display at the Castle Museum which has just reopened after a multi-million pound refurbishment. Whilst in town we took the opportunity to make a visit. We paid our £7.50 adult admission charge and entered what is a dramatically spacious area.  Gone is the warren of false walls. Visitors now see the internal structure of the Castle open up before them. 

The introductory area shows a map of the major sites which have contributed to the history, archaeology and understanding of the town.  Then there is the first of numerous beautifully lit cases containing artefacts, well presented with adequate and clear supporting text.  This acknowledges the formation of the Museum, the substantial collection of George Joslin (the Victorian ironmonger), the merging of the Essex Archaeological Society’s collection in 1926, through to the work of professional archaeologists who contribute much now to the understanding of the town.  Rex Hull is noted as a lead person in the development of the Museum whilst he was curator.

I noted a case which will be used to show different aspects of the Museum’s collection.  To one side on the first floor is a cabinet showing an array of items taken out of storage, acknowledging the whole collection to be one of great significance and noting with perhaps regret that it is impossible to display everything.  It is a powerful reminder of the contribution of past members of the Essex Society for Archaeology and History to the formation and continuance of the Colchester Museum, certainly over its first hundred or so years.

Back now to our viewing.  In the corner is a seating area with large screen computer graphics showing aerial views of the castle through the ages – from its early days to the present, where after Wheeley had partly demolished the building for materials in the 1690s, the roofless structure remained until 1935 when it was covered to create more space for the Museum.

At reception we were advised to take the stairs or lift to the first floor.  This is a large horseshoe shaped area telling the story of Colchester from its beginnings through to the end of the Roman period.  It begins with a partly reconstructed circular Iron Age round house, the remainder being depicted by different shaded carpet to give the overall size and impression of the building.  As someone who has studied Colchester in local history I came across well-known artefacts, almost as if these were old friends given a gentle makeover.  The tombstone of Longinus Sdapeze alongside the memorial to Marcus Favonius Facilis adorns one side. The lighting picks out the inscriptions. Visitors are invited to touch smaller replicas coloured to show how these finds may have originally looked.  Opposite were imitation Roman shields visitors could try for size with opportunities, here and elsewhere, to dress up.

The Lexden burial mound finds are another highlight of the gallery floor.  These have a museum reference number containing 2001, which made me wonder whether these are newly displayed acquisitions.  Mention should be made here that many items on display are new, new in the sense that they are recent discoveries, but the story of Colchester is not necessarily confined to items found from within the Borough but from elsewhere in Essex, discovered and acquired by the Museum over its very long history.  The notable discovery of a Roman Circus over the past decade just outside Colchester’s walled town provides the perfect opportunity to one corner of the gallery for family members, both young and old, to try their hand at the excitement of chariot racing. Those in pursuit of the more serious activity of looking at coin hoards and pots can smile and walk on by, to then view the iconic Colchester sphinx, one of the Museum’s earliest acquisitions, discovered in 1821 when the local hospital was built.

From the balcony onto the large but equally interesting stone wall is projected huge graphics of the arrival of the Romans, the building of the Temple of Claudius on the very site of the Castle, and its subsequent destruction by Boudicca in 60AD.  This sets the scene for the area which explains the burnt layer in the archaeology of the town when it was razed to the ground.  We see the construction of the Castle, its use as a prison, scenes of the siege, of Charles Gray acquiring the site as a pleasure garden before its creation as a Museum.

We viewed the Chapel set out with chairs as a meeting space, before descending to the ground floor.  Here medieval history is depicted with references to St Botolph’s Priory and St John’s Priory, then of trade.  Then there is an area devoted to the siege of Colchester of 1648 with a film shown in an adjacent room.  It would be easy to miss the portion devoted to modern Colchester which has seating and space to select interviews depicting town, family and military-service life.

Then it was back to the shop.  Alas there is no Guide Book as yet and though I believe tablets may be hired to enhance the experience of visitors – I read this in a newspaper article – these were not offered on arrival nor could be seen in use by the many other visitors.  There is little in the shop specific to the Castle Museum other than boxes of fudge or chocolate.  It is early days.

When paying for the bar of chocolate and buying a joint annual ticket (£32, with admission price refunded for the day’s visit) I asked the staff member why the history of Colchester seemed to end abruptly in 1648.  I was advised that this was a link with the history of the Castle which, on reflection, I understand.  But gone seems to be the timber framed structure of a house pulled down in the 1940s – a welcome omission – but also no mention of John Wilbye the musician.  Did I not see the prison below stairs where the witch victims of the Witchfinder Matthew Hopkins were placed?  And I don’t recall much emphasis on the bay and say trade.  But was there so much to see? The answer is ‘Yes’ which justifies a return visit.

Some have suggested that the Museum has fewer artefacts on display than it had previously.  I doubt that this is the case.  What the visitor sees beyond the glass display cases, very cleverly, are the internal walls of the castle. This creates a spaciousness not hitherto seen.  And, of course the castle is part of the story of Colchester.  It is an exhibit in itself.