All Saints’ Church is one of the earliest of the town churches. Colchester’s High Street roughly follows the line of the principal East-West street of the Roman town, as it aligns with the Roman gates that were at either end of it, but outside All Saints’ it is deflected south. This was caused by the building of the castle in the 11th century. All Saints’ predates this and is aligned with a nearby Roman building and the foundations of the church may well make use of the walls of Roman buildings that were already on the site. Roman brick was used in its construction, but they are now largely covered over.
The church was originally a two celled apsidal church to which the nave was added in the 12th century by the Normans. The chancel dates from the 14th century and the aisle from the 15th. The tower was built in the 14th century and rebuilt around 1500, but it retained the arch of the earlier tower. It has knapped flint work in its construction which would have been imported from elsewhere as there is no flint in Essex.
Some of its early rectors were less than law abiding. In the 14th century one was fined for felling hazel trees growing on the town wall. Another was fined for assault and a third for obstructing the highway with a 'whirlegigge', which was probably a type of turnstile.
In 1648, during the English Civil War, Colchester was under siege by Parliamentarians as Royalists were inside the town. The nearby St Botolph’s church was badly damaged by cannon fire so its parishioners were welcomed at All Saints where they attended for nearly 200 years until 1837 when the present St Botolph’s church was built. The church was heavily restored in in the 19th century and is a fine example of gothic architecture.
It became redundant in 1956 due to falling numbers of the congregation as the population in the town centre diminished. It became Colchester’s Natural History Museum in 1958 and it has displays on the wildlife and geology of the northeast Essex area including the Great Essex Earthquake of 1884. Entry is free and it is open every day except Monday.