New Royal Mail stamp collection celebrates Roman history... but not Colchester's

Earlier this week Royal Mail launched a new collection of picture stamps to celebrate the legacy of the Romans during their almost 400-year tenure on British soil.

The eight small stickers, designed alongside the British Museum, depict eight different Roman artefacts and architecture located across the country.

Dover lighthouse, Bignor mosaic, the Caerleon Amphitheatre, and the Ribchester helmet are among the Roman artefacts included in the exclusive stamp set.

Despite being the first capital of the Roman province, Colchester’s role in the dominating empire appears to have been omitted from the stamp collection.

The exclusion has angered representatives in the town, such as the town’s High Steward Sir Bob Russell, who often leads heritage and history tours.

“This is an appalling oversight by Royal Mail, and someone has failed an elementary test in the knowledge of the history of Roman Britain,” he said.

“We have enough Roman heritage to have a whole set of eight stamps to ourselves.

“For Colchester not to appear on one in the collection issued by Royal Mail is something of an insult.”

Among other things, Colchester is home to Britain’s largest surviving Roman Wall, dating back nearly 2,000 years, in addition to the oldest Roman arch in the country.

The town also boasts several mosaics, two of only five known Roman theatres in Britain, and the only known Roman chariot racing circus outside mainland Europe.

Colchester MP Will Quince said he was also disappointed the town’s history was not honoured with its own Royal Mail stamp.

“I am pleased Royal Mail has decided to celebrate the legacy of the Romans in Britain but disappointed that they appear to have forgotten about Colchester,” he said.

“I suspect this is because they know that Colchester’s incredible Roman heritage can only truly be appreciated in person hope as soon as we are through this pandemic, people will flock to Colchester to see what our amazing town has to offer.”

Phillip Crummy, of the Colchester Archaeological Trust, believes it was unfortunate for Colchester to not feature.

"Wouldn't it have been great for Colchester and the Circus Centre to have had a Ben Hur style racing chariot on one of the stamps but the Royal Mail had a lot of choice when it came to picking subjects for their stamps," he said. 

"I guess the Royal Mail could have used the head of Claudius which supposedly was part of a statue in Colchester, but then the Queen wouldn't have been too keen to see Claudius' head on her stamps.

"We'll just have to keep digging and see what else we can come up with for next time round."

Although there is no stamp dedicated to the town, Royal Mail has since said an image of a beaker found in Colchester will be included in the presentation pack.

A spokesman for Royal Mail said: “To explore Roman Britain in just eight stamps across the UK, naturally means that we are unable to feature every site or important Roman find.

“We worked closely with experts at the British Museum to devise a set of stamps that conveys the sophistication and artistry of the era.

“We believe the final selection provides the broadest range of sites, buildings and artefacts that encompass the engineering, artistry and skills of people of the time – and importantly, work within the confines of reducing the image to fit on a stamp.”

Royal Mail’s Roman stamps will be available from Thursday.