St Botolph's Priory, Colchester, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

St Botolph's Priory in Colchester is the ruin of a Norman priory church, founded around 1100 and widely described as the first Augustinian priory in England. Built partly from recycled Roman brick, it was wrecked during the siege of Colchester in 1648 and now stands as one of the town's most atmospheric ruins.

The story behind it

The priory was founded around the turn of the 12th century for a community of Augustinian canons, who lived by a shared rule rather than as secluded monks. They built their church largely from material salvaged from the ruins of Roman Colchester, which is why so much red brick shows among the flint and stone. The priory was closed in the 1530s during Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries, though the nave remained in use for a time as a parish church.

Its worst day came in the summer of 1648, in the Second English Civil War. Royalist forces held Colchester while a Parliamentarian army besieged it, and the town endured weeks of bombardment and growing starvation. St Botolph's lay in the line of fire at the edge of the town and suffered badly, leaving the broken walls you see today.

What to look for

• The west front, where rows of interlacing round arches decorate the wall above the main doorway, a classic Norman touch.
• The thick round piers of the old nave, whose massive scale gives a sense of how big the church once was.
• The Roman bricks set into the walls, easy to spot by their flat, thin shape and reddish colour against the rougher flint.
• The jagged, broken tops of the walls, a reminder of the damage done by cannon fire during the siege.

Tips for your visit

• Allow 20 to 30 minutes to walk around the ruins and read the information boards. The site is open air and generally free to wander, but check current access before you go.
• Soft morning or late afternoon light shows the brick and flint at their best and makes for the better photographs.
• It sits on the edge of the town centre, so you can easily combine it with Colchester Castle and the surviving stretches of Roman wall.
• The ground is uneven in places, so wear comfortable shoes, and keep off the fragile walls.

See it on a quest

A Siege in Colchester is a natural fit, as the priory carries the marks of that very siege. You reach it on foot as one stop on a longer route through the town, the app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle in what is in front of you. One ticket covers the whole group.

Boudica's Legacy: Women of Colchester takes a different view of the same streets, following the women who shaped the town. Again you walk between real places, hear about each one as you get there and solve a puzzle on the spot. One ticket covers the whole group.