THESE archives go back to Army days in Colchester in the early 1990s.

The town has of course been an important military base since Roman times, undergoing a number of major changes since then.

Chief amongst these are the barracks which were built and used from Victorian times onwards until operations were moved to Merville Barracks.

This first phase began in 2006 and continued over a two year period.

Some of the old barracks were included in the new base but many were either re-developed for housing or demolished.

These photographs show how the army has long played a major part in the community including with charitable events.