Colchester is the first place in Britain anyone bothered to write down
- The oldest recorded town in Britain
- First capital of Roman Britain
- University of Essex — around 17,000 students
- City status granted in 2022
How Colchester grew
Two thousand years of being written down.
Boudica burns it down
In AD 60 or 61. It was rebuilt with walls, some of which are still standing — and the town has been continuously documented ever since, which is the actual claim to being Britain’s oldest recorded town.
The oldest recorded town in Britain
Colchester is the oldest recorded town in Britain and was the first capital of Roman Britain, which gives it a claim no other English city can make: it is the first place here that anyone bothered to write down.
That is the relevant part. A settlement becomes a town in the record when somebody keeps records — taxes, garrisons, trade. Colchester enters history because Rome ran an administration that wrote things down and filed them.
Boudica burned it in AD 60 or 61, and it was rebuilt with walls, some of which are still standing. The town has been continuously documented for two thousand years.
What that means if you trade in Colchester
Colchester is a garrison town and a university town inside London’s commuter reach, which produces three distinct customer groups with very different budgets and expectations.
It is also growing quickly, which means a steady supply of people who have just moved in and have no idea who to call.
What Colchester businesses ask us for
New arrivals are the opportunity
A growing town means constant first-time searches. Write for somebody who knows nobody.
Garrison, students or commuters
Three markets, three tones. Pick one to lead on.
Be specific on coverage
Wivenhoe, Tiptree, West Mersea and the villages all ask.
A garrison, a university and a very old town
Colchester’s modern economy rests on three things that have very little to do with each other. It is a long-standing garrison town, which puts a large, relatively young, frequently changing military population and its families in the area. It has the University of Essex at Wivenhoe Park, founded in 1964 and now around seventeen thousand students. And it has a historic centre that draws visitors on the strength of being the oldest recorded town in Britain and the first capital of Roman Britain.
Those three produce genuinely different customers. Garrison families arrive, need everything at once, and may be gone in two years. Students arrive in October and leave in June. Visitors come for a day and want to know opening hours. Very few local businesses serve all three well, and the ones that do usually say plainly which they are for.
Colchester became a city in 2022, in the same Platinum Jubilee round as Doncaster and Wrexham — which, for a place that has been continuously documented since the Romans, is a fairly late piece of paperwork.
Where people work
A university on the edge, a garrison in the middle, and a tourism economy built on two thousand years of records.
University of Essex
The Wivenhoe Park campus, founded 1964 and now around seventeen thousand students — the single largest driver of the local rental, hospitality and services economy outside the garrison.
The garrison
A long-standing military presence that puts a young, mobile population and their families into the town. High turnover means a steady flow of people needing suppliers from scratch.
The historic centre
Roman walls, the castle and the oldest documented record of any town in Britain. A visitor economy that trades on the town simply being older than everywhere else.
Essex Chambers of Commerce
County-wide business network and trade support.
How Colchester businesses use their sites
Three audiences, three rhythms. The academic year, the garrison posting cycle and the visitor season all run on different calendars, and a site that acknowledges which one you serve will convert better than one written for everybody.
Newcomers are the opportunity here more than in most towns. A steady stream of people arrive knowing nobody and needing a dentist, a garage, a hairdresser and a plumber. Being findable and obviously local is worth more than being long-established.
Trades and home services
Name the areas — Wivenhoe, Stanway, Tiptree and the villages read as separate places. Newcomers especially check whether you actually come out to them.
Clinics, salons and studios
Online booking and published prices. A transient population books before they have a recommendation to go on.
Shops, cafés and hospitality
The historic centre trades on visitors and the retail parks on residents. Say which you are, and put your real hours up.
Student and rental services
The academic year is your calendar. Anything aimed at students needs to be right in September and can be quiet in July.
Why FastSites works here
In a town where a large share of your customers arrived recently and know nobody, being easy to find and easy to understand beats being long-established. A clear page does that; a long one does not.
Live in days, published price, built mobile-first. Tell us which of Colchester’s audiences you actually serve and we will write the page for them rather than for all three at once.
How well do you know Colchester?
Five quick questions. Get all five right and you win a 10% off discount code for your website. Every answer is somewhere on this page, so have a read if you get stuck.
Colchester quiz · 1 of 5
What is Colchester’s claim that no other English city can make?
Common questions
The simplest one-page site starts at £15 a month, with the website build included and nothing to pay up front. Every plan and its price is published on the pricing page before you speak to anyone.
Sign-up takes about 3 minutes and the build questionnaire about 5. Most sites are then designed and built within 21 hours, and live within days of the brief being answered.
No setup fee and no hidden extras. Your monthly plan covers the website build and hosting. Done-for-you plans have a 12-month minimum term, then you can cancel any time from your dashboard.
Yes — you can upgrade at any time as your business grows, with no need to start over.