Colchester Museums

Colchester Museums

@colmuseums.bsky.social

We're renowned for Romans, cuckoo about clocks and wild for animals! Custodians of Colchester Castle, Hollytrees Museum and Colchester's Natural History Museum.

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Colchester Museums
@colmuseums.bsky.social

Nature was doing creepy long before Halloween. Sometimes the natural world is stranger than anything we could make up. If you prefer your Halloween with a side of fascinating facts, join us for Spooky Stories at the Natural History Museum on 28 and 30 October, 10.15–11am.

Colchester Museums
@colmuseums.bsky.social

We're going to be honest with you. Today's weather is not giving anyone a reason to leave the sofa. But if you're going to go somewhere, you may as well go somewhere with a Roman vault, a medieval castle, and 2,000 years of stories under one roof.

Colchester Museums
@colmuseums.bsky.social

Well done to everyone who guessed Maidenburgh Street for today's #ThrowbackThursday. This photograph was taken in 1898 and shows the lower part of the street looking downhill. Today the street remains one of the most distinctive parts of Colchester’s Dutch Quarter.

Colchester Museums
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The Dutch Quarter is closely linked with the Flemish and Dutch Protestant refugees who settled in Colchester during the 16th century and helped establish the town’s thriving textile industry. Many of the buildings in the area reflect that legacy.

Colchester Museums
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Beneath the area lies an even older story. Archaeological investigations have revealed the remains of a Roman theatre beneath part of Maidenburgh Street and nearby St Helen’s Lane, a reminder that this neighbourhood sits above layers of Colchester’s history stretching back nearly 2,000 years.

Colchester Museums
@colmuseums.bsky.social

Raise your hand it you're helping push up your local museum visit numbers ✋✋

stowmariesgwa.bsky.social@stowmariesgwa.bsky.social

It's #WorldStatisticsDay. Government stats showing 42% of adults have visited a museum in the past year. Locally, 41% in Colchester or Chelmsford and 40% in Maldon have visited, but that falls to 33% in Basildon, 31% in Thurrock and 30% in Castle Point. Only Southenders buck the trend with 44%.

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🎞️🎥✨celluloidsoul
@celluloidsoul.bsky.social

Over here appreciating that they only had room for one name and decided to feature Chester Morris on the marquee, even though Carole Lombard was technically first billed. No shade to Carole, I just love to see Chester loved.

Colchester Museums@colmuseums.bsky.social

The Regal here in Colchester was doing more than showing films. It hosted concerts, live performers, a theatre organ and, in 1964, two Rolling Stones concerts. Did you ever go to a show there, or do you mostly remember it as a cinema?

Colchester Museums
@colmuseums.bsky.social

This week’s #ThrowbackThursday takes us to a steep street scene photographed in 1898. There’s plenty to spot here. The view looks down a hill towards a townscape that has long since changed, but several of the buildings are still recognisable today. Do you know where this photograph was taken?

Colchester Museums
@colmuseums.bsky.social

The Regal here in Colchester was doing more than showing films. It hosted concerts, live performers, a theatre organ and, in 1964, two Rolling Stones concerts. Did you ever go to a show there, or do you mostly remember it as a cinema?

Colchester Museums
@colmuseums.bsky.social

📢 The Natural History Museum will be closed to the public on Tue 27 Oct for a pre-booked Mobile Zoo event. We'll be open Mon 26 Oct instead, when we're normally closed.

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Paranormal Reason
@paranormalreason.bsky.social

Colchester Castle, Essex. Although sitting quietly in a municipal park these days, the land upon which the surviving castle keep sits has been used for many purposes, even before the castle itself was built. Here you can see Laura, peering in through the bars of the surviving Prison Cell fittings.

Colchester Museums
@colmuseums.bsky.social

Museum of the Moon leaves Colchester Castle at the end of this month. If you're planning a visit, take a look at One Moon, Many Voices: our free collection of moon stories from around the world. Inside you'll find tales from many cultures, showing how people have explained and celebrated the Moon.

Colchester Museums
@colmuseums.bsky.social

The answer to this morning's #ThrowbackThursday challenge was Spring Lane in Lexden. Peter Wright took this photograph in 1959, but more than 65 years later the view is still easy to recognise.

Colchester Museums
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Spring Lane sits in one of Colchester's oldest suburbs. Lexden developed as a popular residential area during the 19th century, and many of the cottages and houses around the lane date from that period.

Colchester Museums
@colmuseums.bsky.social

The road has changed over the years, with modern markings, different boundary treatments and much more planting, but the character of the lane has survived. Well done to everyone who guessed correctly. If you have memories of Spring Lane or growing up in Lexden, we'd love to hear them.

Colchester Museums
@colmuseums.bsky.social

This week's #ThrowbackThursday takes us back to 1959 with this striking photograph by Peter Wright, originally mounted for a Colchester and District Camera Club exhibition. Do you recognise this corner of Colchester? Let us know your guesses in the comments below!

Colchester Museums
@colmuseums.bsky.social

Do you enjoy meeting people, supporting families and helping visitors have a great day out? We're looking for volunteers to help deliver activities across our museums. From crafts and storytelling to tours and special events, you'll play a role in creating experiences for visitors of all ages.

Colchester Museums
@colmuseums.bsky.social

This Regal usher probably helped thousands of Colchester cinema-goers find their seats. Saturday morning pictures. Weekly cliff-hangers. Different ticket prices depending on where you sat. A whole generation growing up at the movies. What do you remember about the cinema growing up?

Colchester Museums reposted

Andrew Spratt
@dirleton.bsky.social

Colchester Castle Keep, Essex (England) reconstruction mock-up. #ColchesterCastle #NormanKeep #EnglishCastles #HistoryRebuilt

Colchester Museums
@colmuseums.bsky.social

Be part of something prehistoric! We're looking for volunteer Discover Gallery Champions to help welcome visitors to our major Discover exhibition at Hollytrees Museum, home to a spectacular six metre dinosaur skeleton that has never been displayed anywhere else in the world.

Colchester Museums
@colmuseums.bsky.social

A historic building holds the evidence. A brilliant guide brings its stories to life. Visitors have described our guides as knowledgeable, fascinating, enthusiastic, courteous and exceptional storytellers.

Colchester Museums
@colmuseums.bsky.social

Love Tudor history? This one’s worth a trip to Ipswich. Our friends at Suffolk Community Libraries are hosting KATHARINE, inspired by the story of Katharine of Aragon, at Ipswich County Library this November.

Colchester Museums
@colmuseums.bsky.social

Still some spaces left if you were thinking about coming to listen to Ben! 🎟️ colchester.cimuseums.org.uk/mmm/

colchester.cimuseums.org.ukMoon, Magick and Mystery | Colchester MuseumsA weekend of folklore, fortune-telling and the uncanny at Colchester Castle. Book talks, readings, workshops and paranormal investigations.
🏰 Ben Paites 🏛️@benpaites.bsky.social

After Dark podcast doing an episode on werewolves, mere days before I talk about the history of werewolves at Moon, Magick & Mystery at Colchester Castle?! What serendipity!

Colchester Museums
@colmuseums.bsky.social

Colchester is one of those rare places where you can literally see nearly a millennium of history in a single doorway. The structure is late Anglo-Saxon (mid-11th century), but the distinctive red bricks are Roman spolia, salvaged from buildings erected centuries earlier.

Kevin Wilbraham@kpw1453.bsky.social

The late Anglo-Saxon west doorway at Holy Trinity Church in Colchester. Dating to the mid-11th century, the doorway incorporates re-used Roman bricks. 📸 My own. #AdoorableThursday #HolyTrinity #Colchester

Colchester Museums
@colmuseums.bsky.social

The really mind-bending thing about the Fenwick Treasure isn't just that it's gold and silver jewellery. It's that it was probably hidden in a hurry during the Boudican revolt of AD 61 and never reclaimed.

Jon Hawke@archaeohawke.bsky.social

In 2014 #Roman #jewellery described as being of "national importance" was discovered during excavations at an Essex department store. #Gold and #silver armlets, bracelets, rings and coins were found buried in the remains of a Roman house in Colchester. #FindsFriday #Archaeology #RomanBritain

Colchester Museums
@colmuseums.bsky.social

Archaeologists found it buried beneath the floor of a Roman house that was then destroyed by fire. Nearly 2,000 years later, we're looking at the contents of someone's emergency valuables stash: rings, earrings, bracelets and coins hidden in the hope of coming back for them.