A natural history gallery featuring tall glass display cases arranged along a stone archway. Inside the cabinets are curated fossil specimens including large jawbones, ammonites, and preserved skeletal fragments labelled by geological period, such as “Pleistocene” and “Pliocene.” Above the arch hangs an enormous reconstructed jaw from a prehistoric creature. Beyond the archway, a brightly lit interactive learning area with colourful chairs is visible. In the lower right corner, a turquoise speech‑bubble graphic reads “We’re on Euan’s Guide.”

Colchester's Natural History Museum is on Euan's Guide. Free entry, and your reviews help other disabled visitors plan their trip: euansguide.com/venues/colchestersnaturalhistorymuseum-colchester

A preserved turtle specimen displayed in a clear glass jar filled with liquid, viewed from above with the patterned shell and limbs visible, photographed against a white background, with the text “Discover museum wonders” in the top right corner.

Turtles have been around for roughly 150 million years, right alongside the dinosaurs. Juliasaurus didn't survive the mass extinction. Turtles did. See this European pond turtle alongside Juliasaurus in Discover: Museum Wonders at Hollytrees Museum: colchester.cimuseums.org.uk/discover

Visit Colchester Castle | Colchester Museums Discover the largest Norman Keep in Europe. With interactive displays, star exhibits and the surrounding park, this museum has something for everyone.

See it on display at Colchester Castle: colchester.cimuseums.org.uk/visit/colche...

Reverse side of an ornate gold pendant featuring intricate engraved detailing and blue enamel inlay forming a floral or starburst motif at the centre. The gold surface is richly textured with radiating lines and decorative elements, while the corners each bear a white enamelled square with a stylised cross pattern. Two cylindrical gold elements are set horizontally, and a suspension loop is present at the top, with a smaller loop at the bottom, suggesting it was part of a larger adornment. The design is symmetrical and reflects a high level of craftsmanship.

Similar pendants appear in portraits of Elizabeth I and were worn on chains or ribbons, pinned to clothing, or even worn in the hair. Many originally had a teardrop pearl hanging from the bottom loop, and this one may have too.

Ornate gold pendant featuring a central deep red ruby set in a rectangular bezel, surrounded by eight gemstones in triangular and square settings. The surrounding stones, likely diamonds, are cut in varying shapes including triangular and rose-cut forms, and are set in raised gold mounts. Decorative gold loops and finials accent the edges, with a suspension loop at the top and a smaller one below, suggesting it could be part of a larger piece or ensemble. The design is symmetrical and geometric, with a regal style.

Found in Essex in 2006 by a metal detectorist, the Mountnessing Pendant is a rare piece of Elizabethan jewellery. It’s gold, set with a central ruby and eight diamonds, with an engraved back that was once enamelled. Traces of dark blue enamel still sit in the lines on the reverse.

Chris from Collections and Learning is talking about gryphaea, those ‘devil’s toenails’ from an Essex seabed that used to sit where Colchester is now. Put beside a Morrison Formation theropod, they do something effective: they make visitors rethink what ‘here’ meant 150 million years ago.

A historic black-and-white photograph of a red-brick church with a tall spire, partially obscured by trees and shrubs, viewed from across a low wooden fence with people gathered near the entrance.

That striking bell turret has been a feature of this stretch of road for over 160 years, and it looks remarkably similar today to how it did when our photograph was taken in 1898.

It became a Grade II listed building in 1986, which means the planners are officially as fond of it as the rest of us.

A red-brick church with a pitched roof and small spire stands behind a graveyard of upright stone headstones, framed by tall trees and a low hedge beside a quiet road.

And here's the reveal! This is St John's Church on Ipswich Road, built in 1864 by architect Arthur Blomfield in the High Victorian Early Gothic style.

A historic black-and-white photograph of a red-brick church with a tall spire, partially obscured by trees and shrubs, viewed from across a low wooden fence with people gathered near the entrance.

It's #ThrowbackThursday, and today we've got a challenge for you. 👀

This 1898 photograph shows a Colchester landmark that's still very much standing. That distinctive bell turret is a bit of a giveaway if you know your local architecture, but we're not going to make it too easy for you.

A bright kitchen corner with cream cabinets and a marble-effect worktop arranged around a farmhouse-style sink beneath two windows. Sunlight streams in onto potted plants on the windowsill, including one with red flowers. Kitchen items such as a colander, kettle, pepper mills, utensils and jars are arranged neatly along the counter. White text overlaid at the bottom reads, “Got ten minutes and a sunny corner? You’re basically there.”

Need ideas for your space? Take the quiz: colchester.cimuseums.org.uk/giveitagrow

A potted variegated houseplant with green and cream leaves sits on a windowsill in front of a large window, with a grassy outdoor area visible beyond the glass. White overlaid text at the bottom of the image reads, “If you picked up one of our free kits, now is the time to get those seeds in.”

Our giveaway closes 3 May. Email a photo to cmdf@colchester.gov.uk or share with #GIAGColchester to enter and you could win a £70 Family Guardian Membership (castle and Hollytrees entry for a year, plus perks).

A windowsill scene featuring a table lamp with a square cream lampshade supported by a sculpted rabbit figure standing on a stack of books. A leafy houseplant in a terracotta pot sits to the right, with green foliage climbing upward. Daylight comes through the window behind. White text overlaid at the bottom reads, “Last chance for a little spring project with a big payoff.”

If you picked up a free Give it a Grow kit from the Natural History Museum, consider this your gentle nudge to get planting. Even a windowsill pot helps pollinators. 🌻

The apotropaic objects in the Discover exhibition deserve more attention. Concealed objects and witch bottles found in situ during building works across Colchester. Material evidence of folk practices that bridged centuries.

🔗colchester.cimuseums.org.uk/discover

Illustrated “Beat the Street” graphic with a green circular centre reading “Beat the Street”, surrounded by cartoon-style people, buildings, trees, bicycles and paths forming a small world, set in front of a blurred exterior view of Hollytrees Museum, with the Hollytrees Museum logo and name at the top left.

Hollytrees is a bonus Beat the Street spot tomorrow (15 Apr). Tap your card, then come in and see a dinosaur skull. Genuinely excellent Tuesday. beatthestreet.me/colchester

Illustrated “Beat the Street” graphic with a green circular centre reading “Beat the Street”, surrounded by cartoon-style people, buildings, trees, bicycles and paths forming a small world, set in front of a stylised exterior view of Colchester Castle, with the Colchester Castle logo and name at the top left.

Colchester Castle is a bonus Beat the Street spot tomorrow, 14 April. Tap your card and maybe get a ticket to see inside the Castle while you're there. beatthestreet.me/colchester

Guests dressed in themed costumes stand and socialise at an indoor event, with bold text reading “Murder, Politics + Dodgy Plumbing – 18 April.”

FINAL TICKETS: Murder Mystery THIS FRIDAY

Carry on up the Tiber, 18 April, Colchester Castle. Ancient Rome whodunnit, fizz included, going fast.

£35 • 18+ • 7:30pm
colchester.cimuseums.org.uk/events/murdermystery/

The colour comes from a trace of iron swapping places with silicon in the crystal structure. Millions of years. Exact conditions. One recognisable result. It's part of Colchester Museums' own natural history collections, and it's waiting for you.

Timed tickets: colchester.cimuseums.org.uk/discover

A amethyst crystal specimen with clusters of purple crystals embedded in pale stone, photographed against a white background, with the text “Discover museum wonders” in the top right corner.

Purple has always had a reputation. Royalty wore it. Long before any of that, the Earth was quietly making it inside volcanic rock, one crystal at a time.

This amethystine quartz specimen is now on display in Discover: Museum Wonders at Hollytrees, alongside a 6.2-metre dinosaur.

Visit Colchester Castle | Colchester Museums Discover the largest Norman Keep in Europe. With interactive displays, star exhibits and the surrounding park, this museum has something for everyone.

Visit Colchester Castle to discover more about Roman funerary traditions and the objects left behind: colchester.cimuseums.org.uk/visit/colche...

Circular clear dish containing numerous broken fragments of a light beige, weathered object, arranged flat against a white background. The irregular pieces vary in size and thickness and show carved linear patterns, grooves, and textured surfaces, suggesting decorative or structural details.

More than 200 funerary couches are known across the Empire, but the Colchester example is the most complete found so far north. Its destruction in fire highlights how Romans used costly objects in their mourning rituals, offering them up alongside the dead.

Close‑up view of broken fragments laid out on a white surface, showing irregular pieces in pale beige and grey tones. Several fragments have carved or moulded details including fluted fan‑like patterns, ridged linear grooves, circular motifs, and cracked, weathered surfaces, indicating decorative elements from a broken object.

These bone fragments once decorated a Roman funeral couch, or lectus funebris, found in the Child’s Grave burial in Colchester. The couch was a high-status piece of furniture. It may have carried the body in procession before being burnt on the pyre.

One week in. Still haven’t got bored of watching people walk in and see Juliasaurus for the first time. Don’t think we ever will.

A historic black-and-white photograph of a two-storey red-brick Georgian-style building with white-framed windows and two front doors, set within a grassy area; two women in aprons stand in the doorways, with a bench and shrubs in front.

It's locally listed, which means Colchester recognises it as part of the city’s character worth protecting. Looking at it, that seems fair enough.

Have you walked past this one without knowing its history? Now you do. Share this post and spread the word about one of Colchester's quieter gems. 💛

A two-storey red-brick Georgian-style building with white-framed windows and multiple red doors, set back behind black iron railings and a low brick wall, viewed from the pavement on Winnock Road with two pedestrians walking past.

The answer for today’s #ThrowbackThursday? Winnock's Almshouses, still doing exactly what it was built to do in 1890: providing homes for people over 65 who want to live independently. It had a significant update around 2019, which is more than most 130-year-old buildings can say.

A historic black-and-white photograph of a two-storey red-brick Georgian-style building with white-framed windows and two front doors, set within a grassy area; two women in aprons stand in the doorways, with a bench and shrubs in front.

Our #ThrowbackThursday today was photographed sometime in the late Victorian or early Edwardian era, not long after the building was founded. The plaque on the facade was there from the start and is still there today. Some things are stubborn in the best possible way. Do you recognise this building?

Give It A Grow | Colchester Museums Find out more about our Give It A Grow campaign in collaboration with Hubbub.

Email your photos to cmdf@colchester.gov.uk or use #GIAGColchester to enter. The prize includes unlimited entry to Colchester Castle and Hollytrees for a year, a guest pass, £20 in Museum Money and VIP previews. Competition runs until 3 May. 🌿 Find out more: colchester.cimuseums.org.uk/giveitagrow

Promotional graphic with a blurred yellow flower background and overlaid white text reading: “Ready to get stuck in? We have 120 free kits available, containing seeds, a pot, soil, and tips on how your planting supports local wildlife. Collect them from the Natural History Museum welcome desk during opening hours.”

Whether you've got a garden, a balcony or a sunny windowsill, these kits are your invitation to grow something brilliant for pollinators like bees and butterflies. Share your growing progress for a chance to win a Family Guardian Membership to Colchester Museums, worth £70.

Close-up of wildflowers and grasses in soft focus, overlaid with large white text reading “Live in Colchester? Nature needs you.”

Spring's here and there's something rather lovely waiting for you at the Natural History Museum. We've teamed up with Hubbub to bring you free Give it a Grow kits, packed with sunflower and wildflower seeds to get you started. Pick yours up while stocks last. 🌻

Suspended dinosaur skeleton displayed indoors, shown from the side with jaws open to reveal sharp teeth. The fossilised skull and rib structure are mounted on metal supports in a softly lit historic room with cream walls and red flooring. The ITV News logo appears in the top right corner.

In case you missed it - we were on ITV News this weekend!

buff.ly/qxSr3kY