Colchester had many churches within the ancient walls that surround the city centre. Like many ancient towns and cities there were a lot of churches because people were expected to go to church not only on Sunday, but during the week as well. As most people lived at or near their place of work, the church had to be nearby. Also, as a church could only hold a couple of hundred people at best, the population was dense, and everyone was expected to go, lots were needed to accommodate them.
As well as the traditional parish church or chapel, which were originally Roman Catholic, but became Anglican after the Reformation, Colchester also has a strong history of Protestant Non-Conformity, and this has also left a legacy of churches and chapels.
Some are still in use and with others, the buildings survive, but they are no longer in use as churches. A few have a varied history of uses. Some are ruined or completely gone, although sometimes an echo of them can still be found.
They all have fascinating stories to tell so in this and future blogs I will be taking a look at some of these, including ones that don’t appear on a standard tour of the city centre. If you would like to see some of Colchester's churches, I do a specialist “Colchester Churches” tour by arrangement. Contact me for more information.
In the next blog the first church we will be looking at is St. James’.