Colchester - A walk around some landmarks

Colchester was the first capital of Roman Britain Although it was burned in 60ce during the rising of the British queen Boudicca, Colchester soon became one of the chief towns in Roman Britain, and surviving relics of that period include walls and gateways.

A wander around some of these parts today, allowed me to get a few images which I have included here. Although I have been to Colchester many times over the years, for some reason I have taken very few images - today I will start to redress that.

The Balkern gateway

In the Roman period the wall had six gates located at regular intervals. Of these only two survive above ground today: Balkerne Gate and Duncan’s Gate. The Balkerne Gate was the original main entrance to Colchester. It was upgraded to a Triumphal Arch celebrating the conquest of Britannia by the Roman Emperor Claudius. The remains of a Roman Guardroom can be found next to the Balkerne Gate. Originally, it would have been the gate for the main road leading towards London. There were two large archways for wheeled vehicles and two smaller ones for pedestrians. Today, only the southern pedestrian archway and guardroom survive, representing less than a quarter of the original gateway.

Colchester has the earliest, best preserved and one of the longest Roman city walls in Britain. Its construction began in the period AD 65 to 80 following the destruction of the then-town during the revolt by Queen Boudica against Roman rule. The entire wall circuit is 2,800 metres, or 1¾ miles, in length and it once stood nearly 6 metres high. The Roman Wall can be walked around today and is best seen in Castle Park and at the top of Balkerne Hill near the Hole in the Wall public house.

Jumbo Water Tower is a water tower at the Balkerne Gate. Construction took around 20 months and was completed in 1883.The tower is 40.1m tall overall and contains 1.2 million red bricks. The tower was nicknamed ’Jumbo’ after the London Zoo elephant as a term of derision in 1882 by Reverend John Irvine who was annoyed that the tower dwarfed his nearby rectory at St. Mary-at-the-Walls! After a century of service the water tower became superfluous to the water supply system and was sold off by Anglian Water in 1987. In 2008 a local charity, the Balkerne Tower Trust, was formed with the aim of restoring the Grade II* listed tower and making it a heritage attraction with guided public access.

Colchester Castle is a Norman castle dating from the second half of the eleventh century. The keep of the castle is mostly intact and is the largest example of its kind anywhere in Europe, due to its being built on the foundations of the Roman Temple of Claudius. The castle endured a three-month siege in 1216, but had fallen into disrepair by the seventeenth century when the curtain walls and some of the keep's upper parts were demolished; its original height is debated. The remaining structure was used as a prison and was partially restored as a large garden pavilion, but was purchased by Colchester Borough Council in 1922. The castle has since 1860 housed Colchester Museum, which has an important collection of Roman exhibits. It is a scheduled monument and a Grade I listed building.

The 'old stone doorway' built by Charles Gray in the Castle Park. Charles Gray FRS was born in the late 17C, a lawyer, antiquary and Tory Member of Parliament for Colchester. Locally, Gray is now most remembered for being given Colchester Castle as part of his marriage settlement, and subsequently making a number of efforts to preserve it for future generations. Likewise, he also purchased a great part of the surrounding land, which was, a hundred and fifty years later, given to the town to become Castle Park.

Who hasn`t heard `Twinkle Twinkle little star`? Very few I would think. While wandering the High Street, I came across this statue of Jane and Ann Taylor who lived in Colcheser, and it was the poet Jane (on the left) who wrote this well known verse in 1806.

The clock tower on the Town Hall

The war memorial in front of the Castle gate

Colchester's oldest standing building, it is the only surviving Saxon building which has an arrowhead (triangle arches) doorway in the tower and features re-used Roman bricks.

According to a local news item recently: `An Essex church which is around 1,000 years old - and the oldest standing building in one city - is set to undergo a "remarkable" transformation after a grant was secured from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The grant of £147,000 has been secured for the Holy Trinity Church in Colchester, a rare Grade I listed building which dates back to the 11th century.

Colchester Council has said the "significant works" will pave the way for the restoration and adaptation of the church and its tower, which will be refurbished to inject new life into the space. Holy Trinity Church on Trinity Street in the centre of Colchester is believed to be the city's oldest standing building.`

The ruins of St Botolph`s Priory

Founded between 1093 and 1100, the priory of St Julian and St Botolph was one of the first religious houses in England to adopt Augustinian rule. This initially gave it authority over other houses of that order in the country to correct abuses, inflict punishments and prescribe regulations.

Despite these privileges, St Botolph’s remained a small foundation and fund-raising must have been hampered by the existence of the more powerful St John’s Abbey a few hundred yards to the south. Its relative poverty means construction would have been a slow process, and the details of the west front indicate a completion date of around 1150.

When St Botolph’s was dissolved in 1536 its possessions were granted to Sir Thomas Audley, the Lord Chancellor.

Part of the church remained in use as a parish church until the seige of Colchester in 1648, when the Royalist town was attacked by General Fairfax. During the seige the church was largely destroyed by cannon fire and has never been repaired.

The nave was used for burials during the 18th and 19th centuries and south of the church the cloister was at one stage laid out as a garden.

All in all, a great day around Colchester. There are many other things to see in the town, including the beautiful Castle Gardens.

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Ipswich Town FC reach the Premiership

Ipswich Town having been promoted to the Premier League for the first time twenty-two years, have signs around town proclaiming their success. Here are a couple of the obvious signs -  first the rubbish bins - I guess we don`t want visitors being too free with their rubbish!

Although rather a good idea I thought.

Then the mural on the wall of building in town proclaiming loud and clear, and not forgetting the statues outside portman Road.

Sir Alf Ramsey

Sir Alf Ramsey -

When Ramsey originally retired from playing aged 35, he became the manager of Ipswich Town, then in the third tier of English football. Ipswich rose through the divisions over the next six years, winning the Third Division South in 1956–57 and the Second Division in 1960–61. In the 1961–62 season, Ipswich's first-ever campaign in the top division, Ramsey's team defied expectations to become champions of England. Ramsey took charge of the England team a year later. It is for this reason his statue now stands in front of Portman Road Stadium - home of Ipswich Town FC

As a player, he represented the England national team and captained the side. However, he is best known for his time as England manager from 1963 to 1974, which included guiding them to victory in the 1966 FIFA World Cup. Knighted in 1967 in recognition of the World Cup win, Ramsey also managed his country to third place in the 1968 European Championship and the quarter-finals of the 1970 World Cup and the 1972 European Championship. As a player, Ramsey was a defender and a member of England's 1950 World Cup squad.

Kevin Beattie

Thomas Kevin Beattie -

Born into poverty, he played at both professional and international levels, mostly as a centre-half. He spent the majority of his playing career at Ipswich Town, the club with which he won both the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup.

Beattie's playing career took him from rags to rices, but according to The Daily Telegraph he was "cursed by being both injury and accident prone". His playing career included some controversy, notably when he went missing after being selected for England's under-23 team. After retiring from playing he descended into unemployment and alcohol abuse, and contemplated suicide, before finding purpose once more and a new career in later life, as a football commentator on television and radio. Beattie has been called Ipswich Town's best ever player by many pundits and polls. Ipswich (and later England) manager Bobby Robson called him the best England player he had seen.

Bobby Robson

Bobby Robson -

He made 20 appearances playing for the England national team, making his debut in a November 1957 victory against France, scoring twice in a 4–0 victory. Although he made a successful debut, he was dropped for England's next match, against Scotland, in favour of Bobby Charlton. However, Robson was selected for the 1958 FIFA World Cup squad,

Following the World Cup, Robson became an established member of the England squad, enjoying considerable success in a period between October 1960 and March 1961 when he played in six England victories, including scoring a goal in the record 9–3 defeat of Scotland at Wembley Stadium.

Robson moved to Ipswich Town as Manager in 1969 and it was there that he established his reputation as a successful manager.

After four mediocre seasons, Robson led Ipswich to fourth place in the First Division and success in the Texaco Cup in the 1972–73 season. In the following nine seasons, Ipswich finished lower than sixth place in the First Division only once, in the 1977–78 season. However, that season was a success with a 1–0 victory over Arsenal in the FA Cup final.

His reign at Ipswich lasted 13 years, during which time the club twice finished as League runners-up, and made regular appearances in European competitions, winning the UEFA Cup in 1981 with a 5–4 aggregate victory over the Dutch side.

So, there we have it. Ipswich Town FC has had some great managers and players and has honoured some of them with statues as shown. Now, in 2024/5 season what can they do again?

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Lowestoft - The Walking Men

As part of Rosey`s Suffolk Coastal Walk, we stayed overnight in Lowestoft. We had stayed here for a night back in 2009 when we were visiting a local nature Reserve, so a couple of these images are from that visit as well. The idea of this trip, this time, was to cover the Lowestoft to Kessingland section of the trail and to see the Walking Men statues.

This is a view that greeted us along the beach with our hotel just above the furthest coloured beach hut. The first time we stayed here was at the house where Benjamin Britton grew up, but this time we stayed at the Hotel Victoria - not too far away from there but facing the sea.

Our first stay was here at the house of the famous composer.

The Hotel Victoria, our stay for this visit.

As we had come for the walk down to Kessingland, we did that as soon as we parked the car and took a few photos of the beach and made a note of where the Walking Men were. They were one of the things we definately wanted to see, as they are being removed at the end of the month. The walk itself went well and after catching a bus back to our start we visited the Walking Men

So, for the famous statues. Five 8ft (2.4m) statues were installed on the beach ahead of a free festival taking place in the town. The Walking Men sculpture by Laurence Edwards has travelled throughout the UK and was previously put on display in Australia.

The statues were placed on South Beach as part of the First Light Festival and they will remain there until the end of August.

Mr Edwards, who also made the Yoxman sculpture, said it was a "gift" to have his work placed on the beach. "I love the idea of these moving people, moving through the landscape to try and work out where their place is - it's a lovely theme," he explained.

"This is such a gift to get a spot on a beach with all this hardcore gear to manoeuvre and place them. It's almost unheard of so I'm thrilled to have this location and this incredible town at my fingertips."

Two more views of he WALKING MEN

Another view of he manicuerd beach!

East Point Pavilion

RNLI Lifeboat at South Pier

Ness Point, also known as Lowestoft Ness, is the most easterly point in England, the United Kingdom, and the British Isles. It's located at 52°29′N 1°46′E. Ness Point is the first place in the UK to see the sunrise.

Opposite Ness Point is an artistic structure which has unfortunately been vandalised but I liked the face painted on it, possible at a later date.

Two giant artificial 'birds nests' have been built to help home vulnerable seabirds in what is believed to be a world's first. The 26-feet tall metal structures have been built one kilometre off South Beach in Lowestoft.

Pakenham church which we passed as we walked.

Copied from Suffolk Coastal Escapes:

"The foundations of the first Christian church in Pakefield likely predated Roman occupation.

The church we can see now dates back to the 12th century.Most of the medieval splendor of Pakefield Church succumbed to Cromwell’s actions. The 10th-century Domesday Book mentioned a pair of semi-detached churches.

Built c1000, on the boundary of two manors. The Lords of the two manors, Pakefield Pyes and Rothenhale, both wished to build a church with the west end of the building over the sarsen stone. (a large ancient Sarcsn Stone remains under the church.) In doing so the congregation, when facing the Christian altar, had their backs to the ancient stone which was formerly used as an altar in heathen worship. An agreement between the local Lords was reached to set a dividing wall between the two churches over the sarsen stone.

The original porches of both churches remain today. The north side of today’s church is what was St. Margaret’s. Beyond the central arches lies All Saints church, marked by its 15th-century south porch. This peculiar arrangement reflects the unique history of Pakefield’s dual churches.

Both churches were extended and remained independent through the centuries. In 1411 Robert Graunt became the first rector to oversee both churches. Graunt made efforts to join the churches by opening up arches in the adjoining wall. However, it was not until 1748 that common sense prevailed. The two churches were legally and permanently joined to become the Parish Church of All Saints and Saint Margaret.

In 1930 major restoration of the medieval splendour of the church began. But just two years after completion, on the night of 21st April 1941, two incendiary bombs were dropped on the thatched roof with disastrous results. Fortunately, the walls remained fairly sound and intact, and the tower was not damaged, but the roof and most of the furnishings were either destroyed or rendered unusable, The church remained in this condition until the war was over.

Pakefield Church, however, became England’s first post-war rebuilt church, rededicated in 1950. The re-dedication was performed by the Bishop of Norwich on Sunday 29th January 1950."

Finally we made it just past Kessingland and called it a day, for today, catching a bus back to our starting point. A lovely walk and an enjoyable day.

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Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace

A visit to London was planned for today - a day which turned out to be the hottest of the year so far! However, with plenty of suncream and water to drink, we ventured to our main point of interest which was the changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. I had not seen this before and when we arrived outside it appears hundreds more had not either!

So, here are the people outside the Palace, occupying any vantage point possible while the music rose from in front of them. What we then decided was to be in position to see them marching past when they left the Palace and watch for the ones returning to their barracks.

Here are a couple of images of guards marching up The Mall toward us

Some from the Palace assembling ready to march down The Mall

More arriving from The Mall 

The gardens in front of the Palace were beautiful

At the top of these sets of steps, known as The Duke of York Steps, and looking down on St James Park and The Mall, stands an imposing granite column topped by a regal bronze statue of Prince Frederick, Duke of York and son of King George III.

The Duke of York Column was designed by Benjamin Wyatt, one of the foremost architects of his day, and erected in 1834. It stands 124 feet high, with a small viewing platform just below the statue.

We then walked down The Mall with the intention of going to the British Museum, but after a short look at the Egyptian display, the heat got the better of us and we made our way back the cool of the train station ready to head home.

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The amazing ceiling of St Mary - Huntingfield

Suffolk has a magnificent legacy in its hundreds of churches, which tell the story of medieval times and onward. One of the many such churches was on the itinerary for today. Having read about the magnificent ceiling decorations in St Marys in Huntingfield, this was our  main aim for today. Not medieval I know, but an amazing Victorian legacy.

This post was originally made in 2019 but I have moved it to today after a revisit and some added info and images

I have started photographing the village signs that we come across, so this was one to add to the collection.- Huntingfield. The name conjours up all sorts of images of time past.

The existing church certainly dates from the 11th century but there are signs that there had been a chapel here long before. The first church was built by the family who took their name from the village and lived in the manor for 250 years, the Lords de Huntingfield.

The chancel was added in the thirteenth century and the brick section (above) on the north side was added in the 18C as a chapel for the Vanneck family - the Vannecks being Barons of Huntingfield at the period.

By the end of the fourteenth, the south side of the nave had been altered and both aisles had been built in the fashionable Gothic style with its pointed arches. The five small high, or clerestory, windows on the south side of the nave would have provided light into the nave, the advent of affordable glass having made such things possible.

The east window of the south aisle has all that remains of the medieval glass that would once have filled many of the windows. There is a record of what was still to be seen here in the sixteenth century which lists the memorial windows with the coats of arms borne by the families who once owned the Manor.

The windows of the south aisle are particularly pretty and date from the fifteenth century. Their Perpendicular style is indicated by their familiar flat-topped shape. The porch is also from the fifteenth century. The font dates from the fourteenth century.

Virgin Mary over the front porch.

Inside the porch was this stoup. A holy water font or stoup is a vessel containing holy water which is generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is often placed at the base of a crucifix or religious representation. It is used in the Catholic Church, Anglican Churches, and some Lutheran churches to make the Sign of the Cross using the holy water upon entrance of the church. Holy water is blessed by a priest or a deacon, and many Christians believe it to be a reminder of the baptismal promises.

Inside the church, before you even look up, there is evidence that this church was heavily influenced by the ideas of the Oxford Movement. Almost Catholic in parts.

But for the main story - the Reverend William Holland 1813-1891, of Boston Lincs, M.A. of Lincoln College Oxford 1840, was Rector of Huntingfield  from 1849-1891. In 1835 he married Mildred Keyworth Holland 1813-1878 at Skendleby Lincs.
What the vicar of Huntingfield had in his new wife, and many other ministers didn't, was a visionary wife. Between 1859 and 1866, Mrs Mildred Holland planned, designed and executed the most elaborate redecoration of a church this county had seen since the Reformation. For seven years, she lay on her back at the top of scaffolding, first in the chancel (angels) and then in the nave (saints on the ceilure, fine angels on the beam ends), gilding, lettering and painting this most glorious of small church roofs. Her husband, the Reverend William Holland, kept a journal throughout this period, and there is no suggestion that she had any assistance, beyond that of workmen to raise the scaffolding, and a Mr E.L. Blackburne FSA, who was, apparently, an 'authority on medieval decoration'.

According to rumour, by the time she was nearly finished with the mural, Mildred had become unable to stand from the pain of painting upright for so long and had to work lying down.

 

The ceiling is a masterpiece of Victorian church decoration, painted from end to end in brilliant colours, with carved and coloured angels, with banners, crowns and shields, all in the medieval style and of a most intricate and detailed finish.

The scheme of decoration is important as it reflects the ecclesiastical devotion of the late Victorian period clergy and their patrons, combined with the heightened liturgical practices of the Oxford Movement.

It is truly magnificent, and one can only gaze in awe at the work of this amazing woman.

A closer view of the Chancel ceiling.







One of many interesting pew ends

Mildred Holland died in 1878; William served on until 1892, a total of forty years. He gave the font cover (Below) in memory of his wife and also the brass lectern with its graceful angels and winged dragons.(Above)

Their graves are in the churchyard to the west of the entrance gates. Side by side they lie, beneath a table tomb alongside a standing cross.

This church is a `must see` if you have the chance. I know its a church, but to me its a memorial too, to an amazing and dedicated woman.

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