Coloured postcard showing a view of the gates to Castle Park, Colchester, with the castle visible behind. Ink: [personal message] [address in London supplied]. Colchester Castle was constructed soon after the Norman conquest, and in part demolished during the 1650s; after that the Castle remained in private hands. From 1870 proposals for the development of the grounds as a public park were debated, and James Backhouse & Co. eventually undertook the landscaping; the park was opened in 1892 but not finished until 1896. After the First World War, Lady Cowdray purchased the site and donated it to Colchester Council, who further developed it as a municipal park