529 



COLCHESTER. 



COLCHIS. 



Colberg was formerly one of the Hause towns, and till 1812 the 

 seat of a collegiate chapter. The modern fortifications and outworks 

 were commenced in 1773. It was taken after a siege of several weeks 

 by Gustav Adolph in 1630 ; was besieged by the Russians in 1758, 

 1760, and 1761, and surrendered to them by capitulation on the IGth 

 December, in the last-mentioned year. The French invested it 

 without success in 1807. It lias a considerable trade, both inland 

 and foreign, and a brisk woollen market. Its military strength is 

 greatly increased by the swampy nature of the country around it. 



COLCHESTER, Essex, a rnuuicipal and parliamentary borough, 

 market-town, and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, is situated in 

 fll" 53' N. lat, 0' 53' E. lung. ; distant 22 miles N.E. by E. from 

 Cliulmsford, 51 miles X.E. by E. from London by road, and 51 j miles 

 l.y the Eastern Counties railway. The population of the borough in 

 1851 was 1!>, 4 43. The borough is governed by G aldermen and 18 

 councillors, one of whom is mayor ; and returns two members to the 

 Imperial 1'arl lament The livings are in the archdeaconry of Col- 

 chester and diocese of Rochester. Colchester Poor-Law Union, which 



xtensive with the parliamentary borough, contains an area of 

 11,770 acres. 



Colchester is generally supposed to be the Camaloduuum of the 

 Romans. There are few places in England where more Roman 



ilies have been found: Morant mentions 'bushels of coins' of 



as, Vespasian, Titus, Domitiau, and their suece.aors. The 

 town-wails, the caatle, many of the churches, and other ancient 

 buildings are chiefly built of the Roman brick. Numerous vases, 

 urn , a.id In a]n both in bronze and in pottery, rings, bracelets, &c., 



oed pavements, patenc, and other Roman antiquities have at 

 various times been dug up within the walls and in the neighbourhood. 

 By tho Britons it was called Caer Colon, and by the Saxons Colne- 

 Ceastcr, from the Latin ' Castra,' and its situation on the river Colne. 

 Colchester was strongly fortified by Edward the Elder, and was at 

 tho time of the Domesday Survey a place of considerable note. In 

 1189 the town had ita first charter from Richard I. Colchester 

 appeals to have sent members to Parliament at even an earlier 



! than London. In the reign of Edward III. the town con- 

 tributed five ships and 170 marines towards the naval armament 

 rai.-fd to blockade Calais. Early in the civil wars the inhabitants of 

 Colchester declared against the Royalists; and in 1648 the town 

 sustained a memorable siege. Having been obliged to surrender to 

 the royal forces, the city was garrisoned by Sir diaries Lucas and 

 Lord Goring. Fairfax soon arrived, and summoned Lord Goring to 

 surrender, on whose refusal he proceeded to storm the city ; after 

 seven or eight hours' attack he changed his plans, ami began a most 

 rigorous blockade. The Royalists held out for eleven weeks, but the 

 provisions of the place having been consumed, the garrison sur- 

 rendered at discretion. Sir Charles Lucas, Sir George Lisle, and Sir 

 Bernard Gascoigne were condemned to death. Gascoigne being a 

 foreigner had his sentence remitted. 



The ruins of the old castle, St. John's Abbey, St. Botolph's Prior}-, 

 the Moot Hall, and the churches, form the principal ancient and 

 public buildings of Colchester. Of the walls by which the city was 

 Kiirroun.li-d, which were one mile anil three-quarters in circumference, 

 some detached portions exist. The remains of the castle stand upon 



iineii^-o .'>tid furm a parallelogram. The keep is in a gon 

 of preservation, and its walls are 12 feet thick. The building, which 



.miKiiud of fliutatone and Roman brick, is so hard that repeated 

 attempts to demolish it for thu sake of the materials have proved 

 unsuccessful. 



St. John's Abbey was founded by Eiulo, dapifer or steward to 

 Jli-nry I., for nVmks of the Benedictine order. A handsome gateway, 

 of til-! later .-tyli; of Knjjliih architecture, i.; all that now remains of 

 this abbey. In St. Giles's church, adjoining the abbey, is a monu- 

 ment erected to the memory of Sii-C. I, uca and Sir George Lisle. 

 St. Botolph'l Priory, not far from St. John's, was founded by Enulph 

 in the beginning of the 12th century. The remains of the western 

 front of its stately church are highly interesting. St. Botolph's 

 parish church is a handsome modern erection, of white brick, with a 



ive embattled tower. The church of St. James, erected prior to 

 the time of Edward II., has a fine altarpiece representing the Adora- 

 tion of the Shepherds. St. Peter's church is mentioned in Domesday 

 Book as the only church then in Colchester. St. Leonard's church 

 is a large and commodious structure. There are places of worship 

 for Baptists, Independents, Wesleyan Methodists, and Unitarians. 

 The Free Grammar school, founded in 1584, for which a new school- 

 hai just bci'ii built, has an income from endowment of about 



i year, and had 59 scholars in 1852. With the National school a 



'.y school has been incorporated, and tho united school has an 



attendance of upwards of 400 children, of whom more than 100 are 



clothed as v.-ll as educated. There arc also British, Infant, and 



Roman Catholic schools. A school endowed by a member of tho 



a library attached. A library founded by Dr, 



nnett, archbishop of York, is in the care of a literary 



y which meets once a we<-k in the cajtlc. In Colchester are a 

 literary and philosophical society, with museum, a botanical and 



ultural society, a mechanics institute, and numerous religious 

 and benevolent as^ociat 



Th- t .v.-n r.f Colchester It pi, a.ia:itly situated close to the river 

 oioo. mv. vi it,, it. 



Colne, over which there are three bridges. One of these, at the 

 northern entrance to the town, is an elegant cast-iron structure of 

 three arches, erected at a cost of 1800/. The town is lighted with 

 gas, well paved, and plentifully supplied with water. The houses are 

 generally well built. The site is considered healthy : there are good 

 walks and pleasant views in the vicinity. Baize was formerly made 

 in the town to a considerable extent, but this branch of industry has 

 ceased. The silk manufacture is carried on. There are also iron and 

 brass-foundries, machine-works, coach-works, rope and sail-works, 

 breweries, and vinegar and other works. The oyster fishery is here 

 an important branch of industry. The river Colne is navigable to 

 the Hythe, a suburb and the port of Colchester. The subjoined 

 statement shows the extent of the shipping trade of the port for the 

 year 1852 : The number and tonnage of vessels registered as 

 belonging to the port of Colchester on December 31st, 1852, were 

 sailing vessels under 50 tons 187, tonnage 3950 ; above 50 tons 65, 

 tonnage 7156; and one steam vessel of 23 tons. The number and 

 tonnage of vessels entered and cleared at the port during 1852 were 

 as follows : Coasting trade : inwards 057, tonnage 50,231 ; outwards 

 305, tonnage 13,866. Colonial and foreign trade : inwards 46, tonnage 

 2748 ; outwards 31, tonnage 2308. 



Colchester has a plentiful supply of fish. The principal market 

 for corn and cattle is on Saturday : another is held on Wednesday 

 for poultry and fruit. Vegetables are extensively raised on tho 

 neighbouring grounds. Several annual fail's are held. A county 

 court, quarter sessions, and meetings of justices are held in Colchester. 

 There is a savings bank in the town. 



(Mrant, Egsex ; Wright, Essex.) 



COLCHIS, a country of Asia, extending along the eastern shore of 

 the Euxine Sea, from the town of Trapezus, according to Strabo ; or 

 from the Phasis according to Ptolemteus. Pity us was the most southern 

 town in Colchis, and Dioscurias the most northern, the distance between 

 the two, according to Arrian, being about 350 stadia. It was bounded 

 N. by the Caucasus, S. by Armenia, E. by Iberia, and W. by the 

 Euxine. The name Colchis appears iu the early legends of tho Greeks 

 03 connected with the expedition of the Argonauts, and the story of 

 Jason and Medea. 



The chief river of Colchis was the Phasis (now called Faz and 

 Rioni), which receiving the small streams of the Glaucus and Hippcis 

 from the neighbouring mountains flows into the Euxiue Sea. Among 

 the most important cities were Pityus, the great mart of the district ; 

 Phasis, on the river of the same name, where the Argonauts are said 

 to have landed ; Aoa, oil the Phasis ; Cytae, or Cutatisium (now Kchitain 

 or Kutais), the traditional birthplace of Medea ; and Dioscurias, a sea- 

 port originally founded by a colony from Miletus, but under the Romans, 

 who rebuilt it on or near the old site, it was called Sebastopolis. Colchis 

 was a very fertile district, and abounded in timber (which was well 

 adapted for ship-building), in various kinds of fruits, and in hemp, 

 flax, wax, pitch, and gold-dust. The inhabitants were famed for their 

 linen manufactures, which formed a considerable article of export. 

 The honey, which Strabo (p. 498, 4) represents as being very bitter, 

 produced violent and even fatal effects on the Greeks who eat of it 

 during the retreat of the Ten Thousand ; it deprived them of their 

 senses, disabled them from standing upright, occasioned vomiting, &c., 

 but ^finally all recovered. (Xenophon, 'Anab.,' iv. s. 20.) The rich- 

 ness of the country in silver and gold mines was probably the c.nse 

 of the Argonautic expedition. The pheasant (Pluulana avis) derives 

 its name from its native place, the banks of the Phasis. 



The Colchi were originally from Egypt, according to Herodotus 

 (ii. 104), and part of the army with which Sesostris invaded Scythia. 

 The facts on which he founds his opinion arc similarity of physical 

 features, of language, and of peculiar customs, such a.s circumcision. 

 The curled hair and swarthy complexion, on which Herodotus relies 

 in support of his position, seem however no longer to exist in Min- 

 grelia. The Colchians were divided into numerous clans or tribi^, 

 settled chiefly along the coast of the Euxine. The Maohelonos, 

 Henischi, Zydretje, and Lazi lived south of Phasis ; north of it were the 

 Apsidce, the Abasci (whose name remains in Abbasia), the Samigie, 

 and the Coraxi ; and the Coli, Melanchlaeni, Geloni, and Sunni along 

 the Caucasus Mountains to the north and west ; and the Moschi among 

 the Moschici Montes, an offset of the Caucasus to the south-east of 

 Colchis. 



Colchis was governed by kings when we first read of it. Helius is 

 mentioned by Diodorus as king before the Argonautic expedition, 

 .dietes is mentioned by Strabo (p. 45, d) as king at the time of the 

 expedition. Colchis was afterwards divided into several small king- 

 doms or states (Strabo, 45, d), and we hear nothing more of it till the 

 time of Xenophon, who ('Anabasis,' v. 6, 37) speaks of a sou or 

 grandson of ^Eetes as reigning over the Phasiani. The Colchi were 

 not then subjects of the Persian empire, but were independent. 

 (Xen., 'Auab.,' vii. 8, 25.) They opposed the Greeks in the retreat of 

 the Ten Thousand. Mithridates afterwards subdued Colchis, and the 

 government was administered by prtefects, one of whom, Moaphenius, 

 was Strabo's uncle. (Strabo, p. 449, n.) Under tho early emperors 

 the family of Polenum (s-m and successor of Pharnacos, sou of Mithri- 

 dates) reigned over tho Colchians. (St.rabo, p. 4!>K, .) Under both 

 tern and eastern empires the Romans occupied tho coast by 

 numerous castles and factories, RO as to command the valuable tradu 



