Colchester Museums

We aren't just here - you can find us at most major social media hotspots! Just look for us as @ColMuseums🙂

You can still spot the gabled rooflines on the right, but much of the older frontage was replaced. Today, the area houses businesses and a Tudor Revival-style frontage. Times change, but North Hill remains a key gateway into the heart of Colchester.

From oysters to office space! 🦪➡️📈 Our #ThrowbackThursday is a look at the top of North Hill in Colchester, just where it meets the High Street. The black-and-white photo shows the lively streetscape before the Prudential Assurance offices were built in 1930.

It's #ThrowbackThursday time! Recognise this spot? It looked quite different back in the day: note the oyster bar! 🦪 This corner was full of character before changes came in the 1930s. 🔍 Come back later today to see what’s changed, and what’s stayed the same!

This corridor in the castle prisons has been suspiciously quiet all day. Too quiet. If these walls could talk, would they back the Faithfuls or help a secret Traitor sneak past in a red cloak? What’s your verdict: Faithful, Traitor, or “banish the corridor”? #TheTraitors

A serpent was reportedly spotted near Saffron Walden, enough to inspire pamphlets, panic, and eventually, the novel The Essex Serpent. The dragon was never caught. But its tale lingers. Track down more like it in Mythical Creatures at Colchester Castle: colchester.cimuseums.org.uk/events/mythica…

Help Shape Climate Education in Schools! Join our Teacher Associate Group and collaborate to design school programs for the redeveloped Natural History Museum. Be part of a network creating classroom-ready resources and connecting the national curriculum to our local environment.

If you have been thinking about our museum work experience week, this is your last call. We have placements this August for 4 students in years 10–13. The deadline to apply is this Friday, 16 January, at 4pm. Details here: colchester.cimuseums.org.uk/events/work-ex…

Explore more of Colchester’s social history in our Online Collections: cim-web.adlibhosting.com/ais6/Details/c…

Pedlars were a common sight in Victorian streets, travelling light with goods on their backs or in small cases. A licence like this helped mark you out as “legitimate” in a world wary of wanderers. This one even notes Lidman’s address, his age and his height: five foot six.

Someone’s whole livelihood, summed up on a single piece of paper. In 1886, Colchester pedlar James Lidman, age 43, received this official certificate under The Pedlars Act. For one year it let him sell goods door to door in the borough, instead of risking fines or suspicion.

Prices from £17.50pp. To enquire, call 01206 282939 or email museums@colchester.gov.uk For more details visit colchester.cimuseums.org.uk/anytime-events/ #ColchesterCastle #CastleSleepover #SchoolTrips

What is Colchester Castle like after closing time? Book a private Castle sleepover for your school or youth group and explore after hours, including some spaces not usually open, before bedding down inside one of the UK’s most historic buildings.

@ColCivicSociety And really, the impressive part is recognising a building that is no longer there!

@ColMuseums Well we identified the church but got the wrong lane. These things happen.

Remember that quiet little lane with the dramatic spire at the end? This is the same spot decades apart, once watched over by a tall church tower and a shop yard, now framed by pubs, restaurants and a busy town centre.

Plan a visit and decide in person: buff.ly/3z89wyH

This doll in Hollytrees has survived decades of visitors, fashions and family rows in the galleries. Which suggests patience. And possibly a strategy. Faithful or Traitor? If you saw this at the round table, would you trust it or vote it out on vibes alone?

@sufc1971 Any idea what the name of the shop was?

@ColMuseums Used to be a shop on this lane that sold wooden toys, loved looking in the window and occasionally buying something from there when I was a kid.

The church has gone and the skyline has opened up, but the curve of the street and the close run of buildings are still doing the guiding. Do you remember this street looking different, or have stories linked to it? Share your memories. #ThrowbackThursday

That feeling when the skyline does all the talking. This narrow street once ended in a church spire. What stories do you think played out here, with workers, shoppers and churchgoers passing through? Have a guess for our #ThrowbackThursday challenge, with the answer later today.