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Colchester is a historic former town [now city] located in Essex, England. It served as the first capital of the United Kingdom and is the oldest recorded town in Britain. It was raided by the Vikings during the 9th and 10th centuries. It also served as an essential location for the medieval cloth trade.

The gravel hill upon which Colchester is built was formed in the Middle Pleistocene period, and was shaped into a terrace between the Anglian glaciation and the Ipswichian glaciation by an ancient precursor to the River Colne. In the 1980s an archaeological inventory showed that over 800 sherds of pottery from the Neolithic, Bronze Age and early Iron Age have been found within Colchester, along with many examples of worked flint. Colchester is surrounded by Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments that pre date the town, including a Neolithic henge at Tendring, large Bronze Age barrow cemeteries at Dedham and Langham, and a larger example at Brightlingsea consisting of a cluster of 22 barrows. Camulodunon consisted of a series of earthwork defences, built from the 1st century BC onwards with most dating from the 1st century AD. The defences are made up of lines of ditches and ramparts, possibly palisaded with gateways, that mostly run parallel to each other in a north–south direction. The Iron Age settlement was protected by rivers on three sides, with the River Colne bounding the site to the north and east, and the Roman River valley forming the southern boundary; the earthworks were mostly designed to close off the western gap between these two river valleys. Other earthworks closed off eastern parts of the settlement. The main sites within the bounds of these defences are the Gosbecks farmstead, a large high status settlement with associated religious site, Iron ingots, slave chains and storage vessels discovered at the Sheepen site at Camulodunon appear to confirm this trade with the empire. and was called by the Roman historian Suetonius "King of the Britons". After Cunobelinus’ death (circa 40AD) his sons took power, with Togodumnus the eldest ruling the Catuvellauni homeland around Verlamion, and Caratacus ruling from Camulodunon. appealed to the Emperor Claudius for aid. At the time of this appeal in 43 AD, the newly enthroned Emperor Claudius was in need of a military victory in order to secure his shaky position with the military, and saw this call for help as the perfect pretext. Aulus Plautius led the four Roman legions across to Britain with Camulodunon being their main target, leading the attack on Camulodunon. Caratacus fled the storming of the town, taking refuge with the Ordovices and Silures tribes in Wales and becoming a Welsh folk hero for his resistance to Rome.

A Roman legionary fortress or castrum, the first permanent legionary fortress to be built in Britain, The podium of the temple has been incorporated into the Norman castle, and represents "the earliest substantial stone building of Roman date visible in the country". Tombs lined the roads out of the town, with several belonging to military veterans,

The city was the capital of the Roman province of Britannia, and its temple (the largest classical style temple in Britain) was the centre of the Imperial Cult. The Procurator Catus Decianus was especially despised. After the defeat of the uprising, the Procurator of the Roman province moved to the newly established commercial settlement of Londinium (London). Following the destruction of the Colonia and Suetonius Paulinus’ crushing of the revolt the town was rebuilt on a larger scale and flourished, growing larger in size than its pre Boudican levels (to 108 acres/45 ha) The town was home to a large classical Temple, two theatres (including Britain's largest), several Romano British temples, Britain's only known chariot circus, Britain's first town walls, several large cemeteries and over 50 known mosaics. However, the late 3rd and 4th centuries saw a series of crises in the empire, including the breakaway Gallic Empire (of which Britain was a part), and raids by Saxon pirates, both of which lead to the creation of the Saxon Shore forts along the east coast of Britain. The re cutting of the town ditch in front of the newly blocked Balkerne Gate in 275–300 involved destroying the water pipes which entered the colonia through the gate. Although houses tended to shrink in size, with 75% of the large townhouses being replaced by smaller buildings by c. 350, The Temple appears to have had a large apsidal hall built across the front of the podium steps, with numismatic dating evidence taking the date of the building up to at least 395. A strong numismatic chronology has been obtained from the over 500 coins found at the site, and puts its date from 320 to c. 425. and was first proposed by archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler.

Aside from the main council and courts in the Moot Hall there were several others in the town. By 1411 a special court to hear cases concerning non burgesses in the borough liberty called the foreign court was held. They had their own bailiff by 1220 (the first was Benedict, father of Isaac), Roof and glazed floor tiles were also made at kilns in the town and at nearby Wivenhoe. The Hythe was the richest parish in the town due to its port and river trade, and the surrounding areas where they were affectionately referred to as the 'Dutch'. They were famed for the production of Bays and Says cloth. An area in Colchester town centre is still known as the Dutch Quarter and many buildings there date from the Tudor period. During this period Colchester was one of the most prosperous wool towns in England. Between 1796 and 1810 Jane Taylor lived in West Stockwell Street of the Dutch Quarter, famous for writing the poem Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

In 1648, Colchester was thrown into the thick of the Second English Civil War when a large Royalist army (led by Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle) entered the largely Parliamentarian (Roundhead) town. They were hotly pursued from Kent by a detachment of the New Model Army led by Sir Thomas Fairfax, Henry Ireton, and Thomas Rainsborough. The Roundheads besieged the town for 76 days. By that time, many of the town's most ancient monuments like St. Mary's Church and the Gate of St. John's Abbey were partially destroyed and the inhabitants were reduced to eating candles and boots. When the Royalists surrendered in the late summer, Lucas and Lisle were shot in the grounds of Colchester Castle. The spot is marked by an obelisk today and there is a myth that no grass will grow in this area (it has since been covered with tarmac to make sure.)

Daniel Defoe mentions in A tour through England and Wales that the town lost 5,259 people to the plague in 1665, "more in proportion than any of its neighbours, or than the city of London". By the time he wrote this in 1722, however, he estimated its population (including "out villages") to have risen to around 40,000.

At around 9:20 in the morning of 22 April 1884 the Colchester area was at the epicentre of the UK's most destructive earthquake, estimated to have been 5.2 on the Richter Scale, and lasting for about 20 seconds. The quake was felt over much of southern England and into Europe, and over 1,200 buildings were destroyed or damaged. The Times for Wednesday 23 April reported damage "in the many villages in the neighbourhood from Colchester to the sea coast", with many poor people made homeless, and estimated the financial cost of the quake at 10,000 pounds sterling. Great damage was also reported in Wivenhoe and Ipswich, and buildings destroyed included Langenhoe church. The death of a child at Rowhedge was also reported. A copy of the Report on the East Anglian Earthquake of April 22, 1884 can be found in the Colchester local library.

The Oyster Feast is the centrepiece of the Colchester's annual civic calendar. The feast celebrates the "Colchester Natives" (the native oyster, Ostrea edulis) that are gathered from the Colne oyster fishery. The feast has its origins in the 14th century and is held in the Moot Hall.

The Colchester Garrison has been an important military base since the Roman era. The first permanent military garrison in Colchester was established by the Legio XX Valeria Victrix in AD 43 following the Claudian invasion of Britain. Colchester was an important barracks during the Napoleonic Wars and throughout the Victorian era. During the First World War several battalions of Kitchener's Army were trained there. Today, there are considerable plans to build a new and modern barracks out of the town to free up building land in the centre and replace the Victorian buildings. There are hopes that some of the original architecture will be conserved for heritage.

Colchester Town Watch was founded in 2001 to provide a ceremonial guard for the mayor of Colchester and for the town for civic events. A self financed body of volunteers, the Watch is convened under the auspices of the Statutes of Winchester of 1253. This statute was introduced to provide for some sort of law and order, and created the first police force in the UK. Today's Watch, of course, are a purely ceremonial body, leaving law and order to the Essex Constabulary. The Watch's livery is based on late Elizabethan dress, and is in the town colours of red and green. The Watch wear crested morions, back and breastplates, and carry either partizans or half pikes when on duty. The Captain has the privilege of wearing Elizabethan "civvies". A fine and colourful (in every sense) body of persons, the Watch provide a link with Colchester history at many civic events. Their day is, however, the Marching Watches. On the Saturday closest to the Vigil of St. John The Baptist, the watch "walk the walls" completing a circuit of Colchester's town wall (the oldest in Britain, with parts dating back to Roman times), a "beating the bounds" type ceremony, establishing the territory they protect. A distance of some 3 kilometers, it finishes in a local hostelry, The Foresters Arms, so that the Watch may refresh themselves. They are accompanied by Mayors past and present, such civic dignitaries as may wish to attend, and anyone else who cares to join in.

The Colchester and East Essex Co operative Society was founded in 1861. Today the society is the largest independent retail chain in the region with a net asset value of £65 million.

Engine manufacturer Paxman has been associated with Colchester since 1865 when James Noah Paxman founded a partnership with the brothers Henry and Charles Davey ('Davey, Paxman, and Davey') and opened the Standard Ironworks at a location in the town centre. In 1876 James Paxman obtained a site on Hythe Hill and the company moved to the "New" Standard Ironworks. In 1925 Paxman produced its first spring injection oil engine and joined the English Electric Diesel Group in 1966 – later becoming part of GEC. Since the 1930s the Paxman company's main business has been the production of diesel engines. Paxman engines are world famous. They are used in fast naval patrol craft, submarines, and high speed trains. At its peak, the Paxman works covered 23 acres (93,000 m2) and employed over 2,000 people. Paxman became part of MAN Diesel in 2000. In 2003 the company announced proposals to transfer manufacturing to Stockport. Production was wound down, and what was to be the last production engine to be built in Colchester was completed on 15 September 2003. However, the Stockport plant proved unable to manufacture the popular VP185 efficiently, and thus in 2005, production resumed in Colchester.