English city that was once the country's ‘oldest town' is home to unique Barbie house and Harry Potter style train ride

The Sun

19-07-2025

DID you know that Colchester was once known for being England's oldest town?
Despite this, it was actually given city status just two years ago as part of The Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
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Colchester has a history stretched back thousands of years and was one of the very first Roman cities.
The Essex city is also home to a train station that is barely used, and looks like something from Harry Potter.
Chappel & Wakes Colne railway station in Colchester is around an hour from London, travelling to Liverpool Street station.
Compared to some other regional train stations around the country, this one doesn't have many passengers.
Just 28,000 people use it a year, working out to around 77 passengers a day.
The train station is right next to the Chappel Viaduct, with the huge brick structure built in the 1840s and measuring 1,066ft.
It looks very similar to the Glenfinnan Viaduct in Scotland, which was used in Harry Potter for the Hogwarts Express.
Nearby is The Swan Inn pub right on the river, and their beer garden is found underneath the viaduct.
And there is more history to Colchester too with it also being the place where the oldest hot cross bun in the world was baked.
It was baked on Wyre Street in Colchester, on Good Friday 1807 - confirmed by the note on the bag it came in, and the bun is now rock hard.
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Owned by a couple in Wormingford, the bun is older than the one kept in the British Museum, baked in 1869.
While you won't be able to see the bun, something in Colchester you can't miss is the pink house.
The six-bedroom mansion in Tiptree called the 'Eaton House Studio' is a dream to any fan of Barbie.
The house boasts dozens of stylish rooms, each designed completely differently. There is a saloon and space-inspired kitchen, floral staircases, and unicorns in the garden.
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It's attracted celebrity guests and was featured in Little Mix's Bounce Back music video.
It was created by its artist owner Amy Griffith, who said she built it to "share my artistic vision with others".
It can sleep 16 people and can be hired you even hire it out from £2,400 as it details on Host Unusual.
Plus, the Victorian English park in Colchester with plans for huge new playground with castle attractions, zip lines and sand pits.
And the UK garden named as one of the best places to see cherry blossoms, bluebells and tulips in the world.
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