Peoples of Essex: The end of the journey.
The Peoples of Essex project has wrapped following our latest exhibitions in Jaywick and Colchester. Across the 3-year project we welcomed over 2,000 attendees to participate in sharing stories of our local history and rediscovering skills that once kept Essex alive.
Peoples of Essex in 2025
Following two years of meeting new people, hearing their narratives, and creating stories using digital media in our workshops, 2025 marked the final leg of the journey for the project. This involved planning ways to share the stories we had gathered. Based on the research we had gathered, we defined several key periods of Colchester’s history to focus on: Early Settlers, Romans, Dutch Weavers, Kindertransport, Windrush and Modern Stories. Working with schools, we created an animated timeline to showcase the people who moved to Colchester within each period and demonstrate the skills they brought with them.
Each period also received its own mini documentary featuring interviews from those who wanted to share their stories, as well as historians. These videos were displayed in our exhibitions for visitors to listen to. After the final exhibition, the videos were uploaded to youtube with great enthusiasm from over 33,000 viewers within the first weeks.
Our travelling exhibition first stopped at Jaywick where the Martello Tower hosted an interactive walk through time. Passing through the Mesolithic cave, visitors learnt about the earliest settlers in Essex and saw real examples of the tools they brought and made locally. Jumping forward a few thousand years, visitors would then adopt Roman customs, playing Aquilla, a Roman board game found nearby, and adorning their hand-crafted Roman helmets. A series of objects from Colchester Castle were displayed in our hologram box, created using photogrammetry. Visitors could then travel beyond ancient history and towards the Medieval, discovering the art of weaving with the Dutch Weavers who came to Essex to save our declining textiles industry with their new techniques and expertise. Brave attendees were transported through time when dressing up and acting in front of the green screen. Winding around the pillar, visitors would then engage with more recent history, experiencing the waves out of a ships window whilst learning about the Kindertransport and Windrush journeys, before listening to our modern stories of migration from our fantastic interviewees. The visitors end their journey through time by sharing their journey on our textile maps.
The exhibitions hosted a series of amazing workshops including animation, weaving and felting classes with local artist Clare Sams, and a local history talk from historian Patrick Denney.
As with many of the stars of our stories, the exhibition then migrated to Colchester where it was hosted in the newly reopened Colchester library. The exhibition was organised in the set-dressed themes once more but in thematic spaces rather than traveling around a circle of time. Workshops and activities were provided in the centre of the exhibition room, allowing visitors to join in as they walked by. It was excellent to see many children dramatically recreating the stories they learnt in front of the green screen scenes.
What did we learn about migration to Colchester?
Our understanding of the migration story of Colchester comes from a range of sources including articles, contemporary and modern books, public records, archaeology, site visits, meetings with professors and archaeologists, discussions with migrants, working with textiles experts, and an overall focus on communication.
The research and engagement show that migration is a positive force. Migrants came for two primary reasons: to fill gaps in the economy or flee from persecution. Those who came to work brought valuable trades that not only saved the declining economy, but taught locals new skills. Those who came to flee later gave back to the community in gratitude. Despite any backlash or prejudice migrants faces, they always left positive impacts in gratitude for the hosting of their communities. The Huguenots and Dutch Weavers are excellent examples of groups who donated to the local community. The Kindertransport survivors and Windrush generation are excellent examples of communities who came for safety and later gave back to the community in gratitude, working in healthcare and helping to assist others in similar situations. Each of these groups faces some kind of discrimination, from challenges from existing weavers to issues regarding race. However, every group appears to have left a positive impact on Essex, helping the wider community.
What did we learn from our engagement?
Through our workshops, interviews, and talking to the public in the exhibition, we learnt the importance and value of sharing stories as a way of understanding our history and celebrating the people around us. By putting yourself into someone’s shoes, you learn more about different lives and can then celebrate different cultures and history. Participants demonstrated this in animating their stories, and children excelled at acting out the lives they learnt from the documentaries and banners.
What’s next?
We will be sharing our resources with the Essex Records Office.
Thank you to everyone who took part, we couldn’t have done it without you!
‘Peoples of Essex’ is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have discovered and shared local history, delivered heritage and skills workshops and held local exhibitions.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK’s heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players we support projects that connect people and communities to heritage. Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings, our industrial legacy and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more.
Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.