To spot the Colchester Arts Centre, look for a striking old red-brick church with pointed arches, wrought iron fencing, and a tall, square medieval bell tower rising above the trees, tucked right beside the narrow street in front of you.
Right in front of you stands the Colchester Arts Centre-though today it might be alive with the sound of music, laughter, and applause, its thick brick walls have witnessed quite a dramatic history! Imagine yourself back in the early medieval days, when this spot marked the edge of the old Roman town, a peaceful corner where an ancient church clung to the city’s crumbling walls. Archaeologists even found Anglo-Saxon burials here, so folks have been gathering at this very spot for more than a thousand years! The church was first officially mentioned in 1206, owned by the Bishop of London, who also ran a little school here-many say the famous Colchester Royal Grammar School started right nearby.
Local priests here didn’t hang around too long-perhaps the parish wasn’t too well-off, or maybe they just couldn’t resist the lure of a better Sunday roast elsewhere! The original medieval church had a frieze of carved shields, and the tower-believe it or not-was partly built using Roman bricks scavenged from the old city wall.
Fast forward to the wild days of the English Civil War. Picture cannons thundering, smoke in the air, townsfolk ducking for cover. In 1648, this church was transformed into a battlefield fortress, with Royalist troops clambering up to the top of the bell tower, dragging a small cannon called a saker into place. From that lofty perch, a one-eyed gunner named Thompson fired down on their enemies, even lobbing cannonballs over a mile away towards Parliamentarian headquarters! But the other side was ready-they battered the tower with heavier guns until, on one explosive day, the tower was hit, the platform collapsed, and poor Thompson met his end in a rain of falling bricks and echoes of gunfire. Some locals like to spin tales that this blast was the birth of the nursery rhyme ‘Humpty Dumpty,’ but don’t let them fool you-there’s no proof, though it certainly makes for an egg-cellent story!
After the siege, the church was left in ruins, with locals saying their prayers next door while St Mary’s waited for its makeover. In 1714, the congregation finally raised the money to rebuild their church-‘plain, neat, but not so substantial,’ an old historian sniffed-which meant even after a near collapse, they still took their time finishing off the bell tower! Over the years, quirky rectors came and went: one translated Aristotle, another left to join a rebellion in Ireland, and several faced fines or had to flee during England’s religious upheavals.
By the Victorian era, Colchester was booming and so was the church-hundreds crammed in every Sunday, forcing a mighty rebuild with red and black bricks, a fancy new chancel, and, after an earthquake in 1884, the bell tower was rebuilt again, proudly patched together atop ancient stone.
But in the late 20th century, the world changed. New roads sliced through the town, the busy dual carriageway cut St Mary’s off from its parish, and the church found itself, quite literally, left behind. In 1978, after centuries of worship, the doors closed-a final ‘amen’-and the bell, cast in 1679, went off on its own journey, eventually ringing again in a church miles away.
But this story doesn’t end with silence. In 1980, the old stones shook with new life as the Arts Centre opened its doors. Since then, these walls have hosted legendary music-from early Coldplay and The Strokes to indie stars and comedy greats like Eddie Izzard and Jo Brand. The ghosts of cannon-fire have been replaced by the thump of bass, the crash of laughter, and the cheers of a new crowd. Today, Colchester Arts Centre continues to nurture fresh talent, run bustling farmers’ markets, and welcome everyone, thanks to a major renovation in 2018 that made the space accessible for all. So take a look at the quirky shields on the old tower, breathe in the stories hidden in these bricks, and know you’re standing in a place where Colchester’s history will always find a new way to take centre stage!
