The Colchester Roman Circus is a unique archaeological monument in Britain. It is the only place in the country where there is excavated and convincing evidence for a circus.
What is Colchester’s Roman Circus?
Colchester’s Roman Circus is an ancient Roman sports arena: a chariot racing track with tiered seating (known as a cavea), which would have provided up to six tiers of seating for over 8000 people. It was probably constructed on the orders of the emperor, Hadrian, who visited Britain in the year 122 CE.
At one end of the track there was a row of eight starting gates and at the other a sharp 180-degree turn. The two long straight sections were separated by a barrier which supported a series of decorative columns, statues and other features, including lap counters and pressurised water features.
Size: 450m long and 74m wide
Date in use: Approximately 2nd century CE, until probably the late 3rd century
Length of race: About 2.5 miles
Chariot Racing
This arena was built specifically for chariot racing, and would have attracted a large volume of visitors. Chariot racing was the oldest and most popular sport in the Roman world and the Circus building would have been used for other spectator sports, such as boxing and hand-to-hand combat (gladiatorial fights).
The Excavations
The buried archaeological remains of Colchester’s Roman Circus were identified during archaeological investigations at the former Colchester Garrison in 2004, although the remains were first discovered in 2000. Further excavations have revealed the extent of the Circus.
Unfortunately, there are no upstanding walls or earthworks from the Circus. Only the wall foundations survive, although much of this was robbed out in the medieval period. These can be viewed for visitors of the Roman Circus Visitor Centre.