St John's Abbey Gate, Colchester, Bezoekersgids & wat te doen in de buurt

St John's Abbey Gate in Colchester is the 15th-century gatehouse of the Benedictine St John's Abbey, and the best-preserved part of the abbey that is still standing. It faces St John's Green on the edge of the town centre. The gate is tied to two very different stories: the 1648 siege of Colchester and the writer Margaret Cavendish.

The story behind it

St John's Abbey was a Benedictine house founded in the late 11th century. It was closed in the 1530s under Henry VIII, and the abbey grounds later passed into private hands. They became the home of the Lucas family, one of the leading families of Colchester.

Margaret Cavendish was born into that family in 1623, the youngest of eight children. Her brothers had a formal education, but Margaret taught herself through reading and through the people she met, including her husband William Cavendish and his circle of thinkers. She became a playwright, poet, novelist and natural philosopher, and she published dozens of works at a time when few women did. She is also remembered as the first woman to attend a meeting of the Royal Society of London. Her unusual clothes and outspoken manner earned her the nickname Mad Madge. She received little recognition in her lifetime, but she is now widely admired.

The Lucas family were Royalists, and in 1648 Colchester was besieged during the Civil War. The Abbey Gate and the Lucas family home were among the places attacked, and the family's fortunes suffered badly.

What to look for

• The gatehouse is faced in flint and stone, and the patterned masonry is the main thing to study up close.
• The main archway shows how the abbey once controlled who came and went from its grounds.
• The open grass of St John's Green gives you room to step back and see the whole gatehouse at once.
• Imagine the grounds behind it as the Lucas family estate, where the young Margaret grew up.

Tips for your visit

• The gate is best seen from the outside, so allow ten to fifteen minutes. Check current access and any events before you go.
• Morning or late afternoon light is kind to the flint and stone and keeps the green quieter.
• The town centre, Colchester Castle and the Roman town wall are all a short walk away, so it fits easily into a wider stroll.
• The green is open ground, which makes it a pleasant place to sit and read up on the siege before you move on.

See it on a quest

Boudica's Legacy: Women of Colchester is a good way to meet this place through the women of the town, and Margaret Cavendish is exactly the kind of figure it suits. You walk to the gate as one stop on a longer route, the app tells you about it when you arrive, and you solve a puzzle in front of the building. One ticket covers the whole group.

A Siege in Colchester follows the story of the 1648 siege on foot. You reach the Abbey Gate as one stop among the places that mattered, hear about it on the spot and solve a puzzle in what is in front of you. There is no guide and no group to join, and one ticket covers everyone you play with.