10.61°C Since qualifying as a Colchester Tour Guide, Sophie Cole has become a familiar face, leading both visitors and locals on walking tours through the city.
Her journey into tour guiding began in 2021, after a spontaneous decision to explore Colchester’s past in more detail. What started as curiosity soon developed into something more serious, as she began to see how closely the city’s history still shapes everyday life.
Her company, Colchester Walking Tours, founded in the summer of 2022, offers an engaging way to explore the town’s heritage. Sophie leads tours on the first Saturday of each month, guiding groups through historical landmarks and pointing out details and stories that are easy to miss.
Each tour ends with a visit to Colchester’s Farmers Market and a coffee at Two Brews on Church Street, keeping the experience rooted firmly in the present day and supporting local businesses along the way.
Ben Howard spoke to Sophie about how she became a tour guide, how she researches Colchester’s history, and why history doesn’t need to feel intimidating.
Sophie, what inspired you to take the leap from being interested in history to becoming a qualified tour guide?
“In lockdown, my boyfriend and I would go for long walks around Colchester. For the first time ever, I took the time to read the interpretation boards in the city and started thinking about what it would be like to live here hundreds of years ago. I enjoyed learning history at school, but it felt extra exciting when I could physically see evidence or clues of the past around me. When I saw an advert for a Colchester tour guiding course, I thought it was worth a go. I never expected to enjoy it as much as I did, and I still love learning about history.”
How do you go about researching and uncovering the hidden stories of Colchester’s history?
“To gain my guiding qualification, I completed a thorough tour guiding course run by the Colchester Tour Guide Association, which gave me a solid base of research and understanding. We meet every few months and hear from guest speakers, including the late Barbara Butler, who delivered an inspiring talk on the Roman Walls, and Adam Wightman, Director of Archaeology at Colchester Archaeological Trust, who explained how the Fenwick Treasure was discovered.
Colchester’s library has a great local history section, and Essex Record Office and Colchester Castle Museum are also brilliant places to find more information.”
What would you say to someone who is considering attending one of your walking tours but isn’t particularly a history enthusiast?
“I can understand why people are sometimes put off by the idea of a history tour, because history can get a bad reputation for being quite long-winded or boring. But really, history is just the telling of things that happened in the past – or very old gossip, if you like. Some really juicy stories have taken place in Colchester, and I hope to pass those on to as many people as possible.
You don’t need to memorise kings, queens, or Roman emperors to enjoy history. You can enjoy learning where streets like Eudo Road and Cowdray Avenue get their names, or walking through Balkerne Gate, the last standing Roman gateway in the city, and imagining what it was like to enter Colonia nearly 2,000 years ago.”
How do you see Colchester’s modern-day culture reflecting its rich historical past?
“I think Colchester has a strong connection to its heritage and is proud of its history. You can see that in the success of events like Heritage Open Days and the Roman and Medieval Festival. It’s also a fast-growing city, so there’s sometimes a bit of tension between development and protecting what remains archaeologically.
Not everyone likes how closely the past and present sit together – I’m thinking of the Roman wall on North Hill, wedged between what was King Kebab and North Bill Barbers – but for me, that’s part of the city’s authenticity. Colchester is busy, growing, and lived in, and it just happens to sit around structures built when it was just as busy and thriving nearly two millennia ago.”
Sophie’s tours reflect this closeness between Colchester’s Roman past and its modern-day life. With her detailed knowledge and relaxed delivery, she brings history into everyday conversation rather than keeping it at arm’s length.
Alongside her public tours, Sophie also offers private, customised walks for families, schools, and special events, giving groups a chance to explore the town in a way that suits them. She is also a vocal supporter of Colchester’s local venues, events, and independent businesses, regularly promoting them through her platform.
Whether you are a local keen to see the city differently, or a visitor looking to understand what lies beneath its streets, Sophie Cole’s walking tours offer a thoughtful and accessible way to explore Colchester.
Sophie’s Five Favourite Facts about Colchester
1. Colchester Castle is 1,000 years old and was built on the site of a huge 2,000-year-old Roman Temple!
2. Before the Roman invasion, the Colchester area was the headquarters of a really powerful Iron Age tribe, the Trinovantes!
3.. f you look carefully along Quaker Alley in the Dutch Quarter of Colchester, there are ammonites in the brickwork of St Martin’s Church wall!
4. Colchester has the remains of a Roman Theatre, and you can see part of it on Maidenburgh Street in the Dutch Quarter. This is estimated to have had a capacity of 3,000 people! I find that really amazing, as that’s more than all of our current arts venues’ capacities put together!
5. Romans were big fans of chariot racing. The only Roman race track to have been discovered in Britain was found around Abbeyfield 20 years ago! There’s a brilliant interpretation centre in this area, The Roman Circus Centre, which is well worth a visit!
