Venue and travel

Wivenhoe House

The meeting will take place at Wivenhoe House, a luxury hotel surrounded by parkland. It's in origin a 18th century building refurbished to modern standards. It is very close to Colchester town.

Getting here

Our campus is conveniently close to Colchester train station and Stansted airport. The airport is just an hour away and we will help to organized shuttles if enough people is flying to that airport. Detailed information on how to get here can be accessed HERE.

Historic Colchester (a not-very-academic brief introduction)

Colchester is (allegedly) Britain's oldest recorded town. When the Romans came they established their capital in Britain here (they called it Camulodunon). The settlement evolved to become a vibrant Roman town with a theater, circus and more. They kept a peaceful environment by brutally repressing the local tribes. Until Boudicca, head of the Iceni tribe, brutally destroyed the town in 60AD approx. The Romans recovered, but just in case, they moved the capital to a small village near the Thames, Londinium

After the Romans left, Colchester was invaded by the Saxons (Essex, where Colchester is, stands for East Saxons) who established their kingdom there. This kingdom was absorbed by other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and at some point it became part of the Danelaw under Ivar the Boneless (yes, the one of the TV show 'Vikings'). There are still some architechtural pieces from the Anglo-Saxon times in town. Then it came the Normans who build the castle (yes, we do have a beautiful castle).

After Norman invasion only two thigs are worth mentioning in the history of Colchester. First, the important battles fought here during the civil war. Second, the 2019 JEDI meeting where you can be part of the history. Don't miss it!

For real and accurate information about the history of Colchester please click HERE.