Local History

Bradwell    Roman Road and parts of old Roman wall.  Saxon chapel built by St Cedd’s monks

In 653 Cedd sailed down the east coast of England from Lindisfarne and landed at Bradwell. Here he found the ruins of an old deserted Roman fort. He probably first built a small wooden church but as there was so much stone from the fort, he soon realised that would provide a much more permanent building, so he replaced it the next year with the chapel we see today!

Maldon

Maldon is an historic maritime and market town in the County of Essex situated on the Blackwater estuary.  It is an ancient Anglo-Saxon burgh that was granted a Royal Charter by Henry II in 1171. From the Iron Age, it has been settled in by the Romans, Saxons, Vikings and Normans and is the site of the famous Battle of Maldon fought between Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons in 991AD.

Colchester

Colchester is the oldest recorded town in Britain and served as the first capital of Roman Britain. It was raided by the Vikings during the 9th and 10th centuries. The Balkerne Gate is the largest surviving Roman Gateway and Europe’s largest surviving Norman Keep. Kenchester Road is the oldest known Roman Road in Britain.

Colchester was an essential location for the medieval cloth trade.