St. Botolph’s Priory, Colchester: Built From Roman Bricks

St Botolph's was the first Augustinian monastery in Britain and stands in the heart of modern Colchester.

The priory was founded around the year 1100 and represents an excellent example of early Norman architecture.

The elaborate west front is one of the best surviving examples from this period.

According to English Heritage, it had flanking towers to the north and south, unusually placed outside the nave aisles, and three doorways.

The decoration on these – their mouldings and chevron ornament – are carried out in good quality limestone, but the individual stones are small and were evidently used with great economy.

Two rows of interlacing Roman brick arches originally ran continuously across the front between the towers.

The remains of a large circular window just touching the top of the upper tier, in the middle of the façade, still has chevron ornament around its outer edge.

Within this are traces of the rebate for the wooden frame that held the glazing.

What remains of the upper levels of the west front indicate this richness of decoration continued all the way to the roof.

The church was built of flint rubble with arches and dressings in brick – the latter mostly reused from Roman buildings at nearby Colchester.

Though simple in design the massive piers and arches of the nave are stunning in effect.

The circular piers are strengthened by triple courses of brick and the shallow pilasters running up from their capitals mark the division of the bays and the position of the roof tie-beams.

The masonry would originally have been plastered over inside and out and probably painted to imitate ashlar blocks; an effect that can be seen on the similar piers at St Albans Abbey.

The base of a wall across part of the south aisle shows there was a chapel at this point, but other than that the internal arrangements of the church have been lost.

The fragments of a medieval glazed tile pavement in this aisle are probably not in their original position.

Much of the north range of the cloister has been uncovered including the remains of its stone bench.

Only the ruined remains of the nave survive today, having been severely damaged during the Siege of Colchester during the English Civil War.

However, in many ways, it remains one of the most interesting and visually appealing historic sites in Colchester; a relatively hidden gem right in the heart of the city.

The site remains under the care of English Heritage and the modestly sized grounds are free to explore, with benches and grassland providing opportunities for picnics. 

Ancient Colchester, previously known as Camulodunum, meaning The 'Fortress of the War God Camulos', was the capital of Roman Britain and Britain’s first city.

Fast forward to the present day and although the name has now changed to Colchester, it remains one of the finest locations for exploring Roman Britain in the country.

Colchester has the earliest, best preserved and one of the longest Roman town walls in Britain.

Its construction began in the period AD 65 to 80 following the destruction of the 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 city was extremely important in Roman Britain and many of its attributes have survived to the present day.

Roman Colchester was home to three theatres - more than any other in Britain, and hosted the only Roman chariot-racing Circus on the island.

Large town houses have been uncovered with under floor heating and fine decorated mosaic floors.

The defensive wall circling the city remains two thirds intact and 'walking the walls' is a popular activity with tourists and locals alike.

Much of ancient Camulodonum can be discovered simply by walking the streets of Colchester.

The reviews of the Priory on TripAdvisor are great, one recent visitor said: “It's a beautiful piece of English Heritage.

”There is no entrance fee you can go around free less than half an hour. We found a really useful description right next to this landmark giving you information about how did it look like back on time what exactly happened to it.

”If you plan a visit to Colchester put this monument on your point of interest.”

Another person added: “I love wandering around these amazing remains of what must have been an impressive priory.

”So inspiring to think about the centuries of history in those stones. A nice, peaceful hideaway just away from the high street.”

If you’d like to visit, the address is: St Botolph's Church Walk, Colchester CO2 7EE.

If you enjoyed this blog post, please follow Exploring GB on Facebook for daily travel content and inspiration.

Don’t forget to check out our latest blog posts below!

Thank you for visiting Exploring GB.