Colchester: What will city status mean for Britain's oldest recorded town?

Colchester hopes its heritage, including its Norman castle, will help attract a new influx of city break visitors

City status has been a 30-year quest for Colchester. On Wednesday evening, as its mayor is handed the letters patent, it will be confirmed as one of the UK's newest cities. But what happens after that?

"Nobody goes on town breaks, they go on city breaks," says Colchester's mayor Tim Young.

"We need to get on with bringing all of the economic benefits and quality firms out there into Colchester and capitalise on the tourist, heritage and culture offer we have here."

Colchester is one of only a handful of places to have sought city status five times in a row - in 1992, 2000, 2002, 2012 and, successfully, in 2022.

Tim Young will become the first mayor of the city of Colchester

Mr Young will be the first mayor of the city of Colchester.

"It will be a huge honour," he says, "and humbling that one of Her Majesty the Queen's final acts was to bestow city status upon Colchester."

But what of the practicalities of city status in a town which for so long had marketed itself as "Britain's oldest recorded town"?

Fortunately, says Mr Young, the digital age means Colchester Borough Council does not use anywhere near as much stationery as it once did.

"The old stock will be used up and replaced with the new name on new stock as it is needed," he says.

"We've got the town crier, the town watch and the town hall. Personally, I think the town hall should stay named the town hall - after all, Manchester has a town hall.

"But there's going to need to be a friendly chat about what stays 'town' and what is named 'city'."

It is understood that Colchester Borough Council's economic development unit has been planning for city status for some time and is already approaching various large employers, hoping to entice them to Colchester.

"We only have to look down the road at Chelmsford to see the benefits of becoming a city," says Mr Young. "We want to emulate that and perhaps even go one better."

Famous five

Colchester has various claims to fame, including:

• Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, the well-known nursery rhyme, was written in the attic of a house in the Dutch Quarter by Jane Taylor in 1806

• It has the remains of the only Roman chariot racing track in the UK

• The oldest-known hot cross bun was baked there for Good Friday in 1807

• In AD60 Queen Boudicca of the Iceni tribe raised a huge army and burned down the Roman towns of Colchester and London before heading north to St Albans

• The town gives its name to Colchester native oysters, which, despite the name, are actually harvested from the shallow creeks off nearby Mersea Island

How long will it take for the heart of Colchester to become known as the "city" rather than "town" centre?

The new city of Colchester will also be working with other cities across the UK to try and influence government policy.

Colchester has already signed up to join the Key Cities network.

David King, the Liberal Democrat leader of Colchester City Council, said: "We welcome this opportunity to ensure our collective voice is heard and to create and exploit the opportunities that city status can bring to us and others, as great places to live, work and visit."

According to Sam Good, manager of Our Colchester, people are already referring to the heart of Colchester as the "city centre"

Long referred to as the "town centre", how long will it take for the heart of Colchester to become known as the "city centre"?

According to Sam Good, manager of Our Colchester, the business improvement district, the change is already happening.

"I'd say it is already about 50/50," he says. "You are always going to have some people who will call it the town centre but it is already changing.

"Some of our branding uses the word 'town' in it, such as the Colchester Town Business Awards, but thankfully we won't have to change that much and we can just rename things the next time around."

As for what city status means for businesses, Mr Good says it is all about attracting the right type of inward investment that benefits Colchester.

"One of unique selling points is the strength of independent businesses here," he says, "so while there are lots of national retailers looking at Colchester, it will not just be about attracting new businesses, but the right brands here."

Like many cities, Colchester has more than one railway station. But here's the rub: One of them is called Colchester Town station.

Greater Anglia says it has no plans to change the name of Colchester Town station for the time being

Some in the town think it should be renamed Colchester City Station or reverted to its former name of St Botolph's Station.

Greater Anglia, however, says it has no plans to change the name for the time being.

A spokeswoman for Greater Anglia says: "There are no plans to change the name of Colchester Town station to Colchester City station, as it involves changing all ticketing and journey planner systems across the whole country, which is a very costly exercise.

"We feel that "Colchester Town" continues to aptly describe it as the station in Colchester's central shopping, business and tourism district.

"Greater Anglia is very happy that the proud borough of Colchester is getting city status and we will support Britain's first city in its bid to benefit economically from its modern city status, by providing fast and reliable rail links with London and East Anglia."