DESPITE many changes over the years Colchester continues to have a market - centuries after the very first one opened for business.

Now operating in a new venue, Lion Walk, on Saturdays the market itself has moved to different positions over the years, as these archive images demonstrate.

They also capture the historic Cattle Market which once traded at the bottom of Middleborough with a number of well-known businesses at the forefront including Stanfords, trading since 1879.

When the Royal Charter was signed in 1189 traders would have sold everything from livestock to corn but after a while the cattle side separated from this.