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Colchester Borough Council's tourism wording 'misleading'

BBC Colchester - Britain's Oldest Recorded Town signBBC
One of the existing signs telling us we are entering Colchester - with the apostrophe missing in "Britain's oldest"

A promotional campaign calling a Roman town a "city" in a bid to attract tourists is a "mistake", according to the local MP.

Colchester councillors agreed to market it as "Britain's First City", rather than "Britain's Oldest Recorded Town".

But Conservative MP Will Quince has insisted it is a town and not a city.

Deputy council leader Tim Young said he was "thrilled" to reveal the new strapline, which will be "incorporated into future tourism campaigns".

Iceni attack Colchester, BBC Battlefield Britain
Queen Boudicca's Iceni tribe attack Colchester in a scene from the BBC's Battlefield Britain, broadcast in 2004
Colchester - Britain's 1st City sign
One of the new signs - complete with apostrophe - but with what the town's MP called a "misleading" reference to it being a "city"

The decision to change the wording came after a consultation with the council's newly-appointed heritage group, as well as representatives from the local community.

It will be used by the team at Visit Colchester to promote tourism in the town, which is the oldest recorded settlement in Britain.

Colchester MP Will Quince
Colchester MP Will Quince has criticised the council's new tourism strapline

Tweeting about the change, Mr Quince said it was "a mistake" not to mention Colchester's Roman heritage.

He also said it was "misleading to use the term city when we are a town".

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Keith Edkins/Geograph Colchester High Street and "Jumbo" water towerKeith Edkins/Geograph
Colchester's High Street with the "Jumbo" water tower which dominates the town's skyline

Destination Colchester - an independent organisation working to promote the town - also said it had been using the "new" strapline since 2012.

In Twitter posts, it added: "We have promoted Colchester as #BritainsFirstCity for years, will continue to do so, and would welcome others following our lead."

Colchester historian Andrew Phillips also told how the council's claim was "irrefutable".

"Technically, Colchester is a town but it's larger than a good many cities and we're not claiming to be a city now," he said.

"When Colchester was established as a city by the Romans, it would have had a charter, which was a legal document.

"The strapline is saying 'Britain's First City' - and that's irrefutable, it really is."

Roman Colchester
Roman Colchester as it is believed to have looked in AD60 at the time of Boudicca's revolt which destroyed the city
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'Britain's oldest town'

  • Signs on main roads into Colchester proclaim it to be Britain's oldest recorded town - dating from about AD49
  • Commonly known as Camulodunum, which is a Romanisation of its Iron-Age name: the Fortress (-dunum) of Camulos, God of War
  • The council said it was also more formally known as Colonia Claudia Victricensis - which "loosely translates as City of Victory"
  • Camulodunum was a hugely important site in pre-Roman times. It was most likely the royal stronghold of the Trinovantes, on whose behalf Julius Caesar invaded in 55 and 54BC
  • Colchester became Britain's first ever city
  • In AD60 or 61, while the Roman governor Gaius Suetonius Paullinus was leading a campaign in North Wales, Boudicca's Iceni warriors rebelled, defeating the Roman Ninth Legion at Colchester and destroying what was the capital of Roman Britain
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PA 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, ColchesterPA
Colchester is one of the Army's main garrison towns in the UK (pictured is the 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment in 2001)