RELATIVES of a couple married in a mass ceremony in Colchester more than 150 years ago have visited the church where it was held.

George Manley, aged 106, went to the St John’s Church in Military Road accompanied by current garrison staff.

Mr Manley toured the former garrison church, now a Russian orthodox centre, where his great grandfather Johann Uhrmacher married Jemima Wass.

Johann and Jemima were one of 64 couples married on October 20 1856 in the wake of the Crimea War, just one of many mass ceremonies which included a total of 150 brides from Colchester alone.