This medieval wall painting depicts a woman in a long green dress.

It originally decorated the wall of St Osyth Priory and is believed to date to 1395. The person depicted is unknown, but as an Augustinian Abbey it is unlikely to be someone associated with the priory.

It perhaps depicts a saint, but it is not clear which. Mary, Queen of Heaven, is sometimes portrayed with a crown of flowers.

The painting was purchased with support from the V&A Purchase Grant Fund.

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This mount or pendant is in the shape of a winged penis.

The Romans believed images of the penis had magical protective properties.

They would be worn as jewellery or put on buildings to keep away evil.

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The saltwater crocodile is the largest living crocodilian on the planet, which has remained relatively unchanged for around 200 million years.

It is now found in saltwater wetlands and freshwater regions of eastern India, Southeast Asia, and northern Australia.

Saltwater crocodiles ambush their prey and then drown them before swallowing them whole.

They will eat almost any animal, from mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds and fish to other crocodiles and even sharks.

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This sculpture depicts Sheela-Na-Gig, a naked woman exposing her vagina.

It once decorated St Mary’s Church in Eastthorpe, Essex.

Images like this were seen in churches across Britain, and no one is sure why.

It has been suggested that these images were used to teach morals in an age of low literacy.

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‘Baby Frills’ is a toy doll with a porcelain head and brown hair dressed as a baby, with a white robe, pink petticoat and brown kid shoes.

Additional clothes include drawers, a chemise, an underskirt, plain sleeveless dress, long sleeved dress with lace collar and a bonnet with two big frills – hence her nickname!

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This blue musical rabbit was designed for a baby’s nursery.

When the attached string is pulled the eyes and arms move and the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star is played.

This toy was purchased from the Early Learning Store in Colchester in the 1990s.

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This is part of the fossilised lower jaw of a Straight-tusked elephant. It has one of the molar teeth still in its socket. Straight-tusked elephants are one of the largest land mammals that has ever lived. They roamed Europe in the Pleistocene period, becoming extinct in Britain about 115,000 years ago.

Unlike their distant cousin the Woolly mammoth, who lived on the icy tundra, the Straight-tusked elephant lived in wooded areas and preferred the relative warmer conditions of the interglacial periods of the last Ice Age, only reaching Britain in warmer periods.

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This date was turned to charcoal in the intense fires when Boudica burnt Colchester to the ground in AD60.

Although this is evidence of a truly horrific event in the town’s past, it also acts as a really important piece of evidence for our understanding of the town at that time.

Prior to the Roman arrival in Britain, dates would not have been found in Britain as they grow naturally in warmer climates.

This burnt date, and other foods found preserved during the fire, tell us about changing diets and imported food of the people in Britain almost 2000 years ago.

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One of the most iconic objects associated with the Vikings is the axe.

This axe was found in the River Colne, which runs through Colchester.

It may indicate conflict in the area, or perhaps it was placed in the river as an offering to the gods.

Historical records suggest the Vikings were only in Essex for 100 years, making this an exceptional find.

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This pot was likely used by Roman soldiers stationed in Britain, who may have shared a drink from this comedic vessel to unwind from a hard day’s march. The phallus was a common symbol in Roman culture, particularly in the form of the fascinum – a phallic charm.

What is particularly significant about this vessel is that the phalluses are in groups of four, which is very similar to the formation of horses in a quadriga (racing chariot). With other vessels having been found showing chariot racing scenes, it is likely that the maker decided to replicate a chariot race using penises for comedic effect.

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There is little archaeological evidence from the Anglo-Saxon period in Colchester, though we know people lived in and around the town.

The Ardleigh pommel is an exceptional item that would have once belonged to a wealthy and important Anglo-Saxon leader.

It would have decorated a sword’s hilt by sitting on the end of a pommel.

Purchased with support from the V&A Purchase Grant Fund, Art Fund and Friends of Colchester Museums.

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This is the skull of a giant deer, Megaloceros giganteus. This enormous stag would have been two metres tall at the shoulder, with huge antlers up to three and a half metres in width.

This species went extinct around 8000 years ago with the earliest fossil record of the giant deer around 400,000 years old.

The name was due to most of the preserved antlers and skeletons from this species have been found in Ireland as conditions there at the end of the last Ice Age were perfect for preserving fossils.

This specimen, however, was found at Clacton in Essex.

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A toilet in a castle is called a garderobe.

It was simply a seat with a hole above a chute which dropped to an opening in the outside wall.

The garderobe in the east wall was reserved for the Constable of the Castle or the king and queen when they visited.

There are several similar garderobes on the first floor in the south-west and north-west towers that were for more general use.

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This Roman gold ring is part of the Fenwick Treasure, discovered in 2014 under the Fenwick store in Colchester High Street.

It was buried when Queen Boudica attacked the city in AD 60/1 but was never recovered by its owners.

The gold jewellery in the hoard is similar to some of those discovered in Pompeii, which were buried by the eruption of Vesuvius almost 20 years later.

This ring is decorated with an emerald, which the Romans valued not only for their colour, but also for their perceived healing properties and links to fertility.

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