Colchester Museums

Colchester Castle, Hollytrees Museum and Colchester's Natural History Museum. This account will no longer be active but remain as an archive. Visit our website!

[Colchester Museums @ColMuseums]

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

[Colchester Museums @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.

[Colchester Museums @ColMuseums]

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.

[Colchester Museums @ColMuseums]

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!

[Colchester Museums @ColMuseums]

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

[Colchester Museums @ColMuseums]

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: https://t.co/1NMUVXmAK0

[Colchester Museums @ColMuseums]

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.

[Colchester Museums @ColMuseums]

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: https://t.co/qDWGIWgI7y

[Colchester Museums @ColMuseums]

Explore more of Colchester’s social history in our Online Collections: https://t.co/mZDdumKeUf

[Colchester Museums @ColMuseums]

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.

[Colchester Museums @ColMuseums]

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.

[Colchester Museums @ColMuseums]

Prices from £17.50pp. To enquire, call 01206 282939 or email [email protected]

For more details visit https://t.co/c2FxRO69z0

#ColchesterCastle #CastleSleepover #SchoolTrips

[Colchester Museums @ColMuseums]

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.

[Colchester Museums @ColMuseums]

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

[Colchester Museums @ColMuseums]

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.

[Colchester Museums @ColMuseums]

Plan a visit and decide in person: https://t.co/DV8KVmYIvj

[Colchester Museums @ColMuseums]

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?

[Colchester Museums @ColMuseums]

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

[Colchester Museums @ColMuseums]

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

[Colchester Museums @ColMuseums]

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.