Colchester - subways

Southway in Colchester may be seen as a typical early 1970s road scheme - a dual carriageway with large roundabouts blasted through an area to the immediate south of the town centre, cutting off all those residents in the south of the town. Pedestrians are funnelled through four subways, with major assumptions made about the routes that people would want to take.

The only redeeming feature of this road scheme is that Henry and Joyce Collins were asked to work their magic in the subways. And so we have four more concrete mural sites to look at.

If you fancy a visit (of course you do) it is worth visiting the site www.henryandjoycecollins.co.uk. Not only does it have information on all the murals, it also has a downloadable Colchester Southway Subway Murals trail. Ok, the latter is aimed at families, but it provides locations and some useful information.

The website also has the following statement:

"In 2017 Colchester Civic Society and Colchester in Bloom supported by a grant from Heritage Lottery Fund, undertook the restoration of the artists’ concrete murals across the town’s Southway Subways. The project was to reinvigorate and celebrate the significance of the concrete and mosaic murals, made in 1972-3 by husband and wife team Henry Collins and Joyce Pallot."
henryandjoycecollins.co.uk/

Which is the reason why the murals are in such a good condition.

So let's move on and look at them. Our first subway is at the Maldon Road / Lexden Road junction.

The concrete murals are located wherever there is a right-angle in the subway, and provide a visual point to aim at as you come down the ramps or walk along the barrel.

The first objects we see are the coins and emblems which are repeated across the subway network.

The first roundel celebrates the twinning relationship between Camulodunum (the Roman name for Colchester) with Wetzlar in Germany and Avignon in France. The date 1973 either represents the opening of the subways or, if the family trail is correct, is a commemoration of when the UK joined what is now the EU.

We will examine the other roundels when we come to the other subways.

Meanwhile, as we look along the barrel of the subway we can see a different type of image.

Say hello to Crouched Friars. Otherwise known as the crutched friars, crossed friars or croziers. The Crouched Friars were a Roman Catholic religious order which first made its appearance in England in 1244 at a synod at Rochester. The name derives from the staff which they carried, which was surmounted by a crucifix. The order's first house in England was subsequently established in Colchester - or possibly in Reigate depending on which source you believe. Regardless of the primacy question, the Crouched Friars became established in Colchester.

The Crouched Friars were dissolved by Henry VIII in 1539. They have got their revenge by being immortalised by Henry and Joyce Collins in the Southway subways, with not a Henry in sight.

Two of the roundels are repeated the wall at right angles to the Crouched Friar.

From which we can look at the roundels we have already discussed at the other end of the subway.

The next subway is where Butt Road joins Southway. The murals here follow the same pattern of being where the subway makes a right-angle turn, although in this case there is only one such point.

And here we say hello to William Gilberd. The BBC history website
(www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/gilbert_william.shtml) describes him as follows:

Gilbert was an English physician and scientist, the first man to research the properties of the lodestone (magnetic iron ore), publishing his findings in the influential 'De Magnete' ('The Magnet'). He also invented the term 'electricity'.

Note the Gilbert spelling, not Gilberd as shown on the mural - apparently both variations are used.

He was born in Colchester in 1544. The book De Magnete was published in 1600, but sadly William Gilberd died only two years later.

The Henry and Joyce Trail leaflet says that the book is still in print today. It is perhaps a sad indictment of the modern world that when I typed "De Magnete" into the books section of Amazon the first entry that came up was "Peppa Pig: Peppa and Friends Magnet Book". However, there was a 1991 version of De Magnete that was available.

Next to William are three of the roundels. We will consider them when we arrive at the next subway.

Subway number three leads into Abbeygate. Again, this subway has a single right angle.

Our main figure here is "Colonia". The Henry and Joyce Trail leaflet identifies the figure as Marcus Favonius Facilis, a Roman centurion in the XXth Legion, and who died in Colchester.

And those roundels appear again.

The top roundel is a coin of King Cunobelin who ruled the local Trinovantes tribe in the First Century. The main image is an ear of corn.

The next one is a coin of the Roman Emperor Claudius, who arrived in Colchester in AD43.

And finally we have an image of a boat, water and an oyster, representing the local oyster fishing industry which still exists.

The fourth location is St Botolphs roundabout, at the junction with Mersea Road. This is a more complicated location as the subway entrances lead into walkways within the roundabout rather than just being a straight underpass beneath the road as is the case with the other three sites.

The ramp down from the southern side brings us to the figure of Eudo.

Eudo Dapifer was born in Normandy in 1047, and died there in 1120. In the intervening period is credited with the construction of Colchester Castle and with the founding of St John's Abbey (whose remains are nearby). After his death, Eudo was brought back to England and buried in the chapter house of St John's Abbey.

Next to Eudo are the now familiar roundels.

Looking down one of the barrels of the subway we can spy another arrangement of the roundels.

And then down the third subway barrel, another set of the roundels.

A film about the restoration of these murals, called "Concrete Legacy" can be found on the Colchester Civic Society website at https://www.colchestercivicsociety.co.uk/what-we-do/publications-films/

So that is the Colchester subways covered. Well, not quite. Two of the roundels can be found on the Crouch Street subway. This is part of the original road scheme, but this particular subway is under Balkerne Hill which comes off Southway.