Shooting Times & Country Magazine
KD RADCLIFFE IN COLCHESTER, ESSEX
If there’s a gunshop with a longer history than Colchester’s KD Radcliffe, I’d like to know where. Owner Robert Radcliffe can trace its records to 1787, but there is good reason to believe that it dates back further. It may have been used by both Roundheads and Cavaliers in the siege of Colchester in 1648.
For the majority of its existence, the shop was based close to Colchester Castle, a fortress that survives from Norman times. The castle was built on the site of a Roman temple, constructed to serve the new capital of Camulodunum.
When the shop’s site was excavated in 2014, Roman jewellery was found buried along with human remains. The grave and hoard are believed to have belonged to a Roman killed in the Boudican Revolt of AD61. With evidence of martial activity on the High Street site for more than 2,000 years, there can’t be many gunshops with a more convincing pedigree.
Although gold and silver were unearthed in the foundations of the original shop, for me the treasures of the business had already been removed and rehoused. Robert Radcliffe relocated to the former Maypole pub in the heart of Colchester’s garrison area, close to the sprawling marshes of Mersea Island.
The Aladdin’s cave of treasures that for so long was to be found on Colchester High Street could now be spread across the generous ground floor of an old country pub and the new premises continued to thrive.
As were his forebears, the present Mr Radcliffe — Robert — is an exceptional gunsmith, who served his apprenticeship with Churchill. He is a freeman of the City of
“There’s something timeless about the shop, harking back to a pre-internet age”
London and a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers by servitude — the first apprentice to be awarded such honours since the 18th century. He is also a patient shooting coach and excellent company. He comes from fine shooting stock, his father Peter having shot for the country at the 1936 World Championships, held alongside the Berlin Olympics.
The shop itself is cosy with a huge fireplace that warms it throughout the winter months. One half of the ground floor is devoted to guns and accessories, the other half to fishing and clothing. There are always at least two and often four members of staff on duty, covering each area of the shop. Servicing and the repair of guns is fly and lure equipment sufficient for the most discerning of anglers.
In the workshop, John Pygott is focused on the traditional art of gunsmithing.
John has been with the business for more than 35 years. “I wouldn’t want to work anywhere else,” he explains. Dean Moyes is also a veteran. Customers arrive to find him poised and ready to support with queries about guns, ammunition and all manner of other things, as he has been for more than 40 years.
There’s something timeless about KD Radcliffe, harking back to a pre-internet age of service and knowledge. Some things can be bought on Amazon and some knowledge can be learned from Youtube. But at KD Radcliffe, your gun can be repaired while you try on a pair of plus-fours, your cartridges are carried to the car and you are told where the bass are feeding in the estuaries. Long may it continue.
KD Radcliffe,
131 Berechurch Hall Road, Colchester, Essex CO2 9NR 01206 572758; kdradcliffe.co.uk