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- Town and river port in England, on the river
- Colne, Essex; 80 km/50 mi NE of London;
- population (1981) 82,000. In an agricultural
- area, it is a market centre with clothing
- manufacture and engineering and printing
- works. The University of Essex (1961) is at
- Wivenhoe to the southeast. history Claiming
- to be the oldest town in England (Latin
- Camulodunum), Colchester dates from the time
- of Cymbeline (c. AD 10-43). It became a
- colony of Roman ex-soldiers in AD 50, and one
- of the most prosperous towns in Roman Britain
- despite its burning by Boudicca (Boadicea) in
- 61. Most of the Roman walls remain, as well
- as ruins of the Norman castle, and St
- Botolph's priory. Holly Tree Mansion (1718)
- is a museum of 18th- and 19th-century social
- life.
-