Some interesting religious connections from our trip to Colchester
Butt Road Church
The Apse at Butt Road church.
In the 1980’s during the building of the new police station, a cemetery of 371 graves together with a narrow building were discovered. The original building dates from 320 to 340 A.D. The original building was rectangular in shape and an apse was a later addition. Whether it was originally a Christian church or whether it was converted to this function at a later date is unclear. If the former is the correct interpretation than the date 340 would make it the earliest known Christian church in Britain.
The body of Butt Road church
An artists impression of what Butt Road church would have looked like (Colchester Museum)
Longinus originally came from the area of modern Bulgaria and was a member of the First Thracian cavalry, which had come to Britain with the original invasion force. He rose to the rank of Duplicarius, second in command of a unit of 32 men. He was 40 when he died in A.D. 55.
The tombstone of Longinus (Colchester Museum)
Impression of what it might have looked like when new
Marcus Flavonius Facilis was the centurion in the 20th legion, when he died in A.D. 43, a few years after the invasion. The style of Tombstone comes from the Rhineland, where the 20th legion had been stationed prior to the invasion of Britain.
the tombstone of Marcus Flavonius Facilis (Colchester Museum)
Impression of what it might have looked like when new
