Lincoln's Roman Past is Still Present

We went to Lincoln, UK, for an overnight trip New Year's weekend, so you'll get the usual castle and cathedral posts. But first, let's follow a trail of the surviving Roman ruins strewn about the city. I did the first part of the tour during the children's nap time. It was a cold and rainy New Year's Day, so many pictures didn't come out. But I'll show you what I've got.

Current view from the East Gate

The tour starts near the Lincoln Cathedral at the ruins of the old east gate of the Upper City's defenses. When the Romans first settled in Lincoln, they naturally fortified the high ground to provide the best defensive area. The original gate was built of wood in the 80s AD. The current ruins are of the stone gate built in the early 200s.

Those wooden timbers in the middle mark where the original gate was located.

Further up the street in a quiet neighborhood is part of the north wall that served as a water tank fed from the aqueducts.

The bath houses weren't far away back in the day; now it's just houses

Further on is the Newport Arch dating from the 200s. It is still used by pedestrians and motor vehicles and is in amazing shape. I was delighted to walk through and see it from both sides. And to find some cover from the rain! Next time we go to Lincoln, Jacob will surely love to go through this gate when he is awake it it is drier outside.

Cars on left, pedestrians down to the right. That's the resident's car parked on the far right!

The "outside" side of the gate, still in use

Walking a ways to the west and south, I came upon the "mint wall" which is quite large and extensive. It was part of the Roman basilica, which was used as the town hall before the Christians began using the term (and some of the buildings) for major churches.

Only guarded by a chain rope!

Further south was the outline of the 4th century church St. Paul in the Bail (Bail is the name of the street) and of the old Roman well. The rain was particularly aggressive here, so no pictures came out. I will say the outline of the church foundations had an unfortunate similarity to the "free throw" area marking of a basketball court--a big rectangle with a half-circle on the end.

Further on I came to the West Gate of Lincoln Castle, where the original west gate of the Roman fortifications is buried underneath the Norman gate into the castle.

West Gate of Lincoln Castle

The original Roman gate was discovered when the owner of the pub not visible on the left wanted to put in a garden out back. He dug near the walls of the castle and discovered the old Roman entrance. He was then prosecuted for endangering the King's defenses and had to fill it back in.

The tour continued around the castle and would have ended with the Medieval Bishop's Palace just south of the Cathedral. I knew that this English Heritage site was closed for the holiday and I wouldn't be able to get in, so I returned to my car. I was getting fairly soaked by the rain, so it was good to end early.

Back at the hotel, I discovered that Lucy never took her nap, naughty girl! We tried to go out to dinner but hardly anything was open. Most of the pubs were serving just drinks not food. We went back to the restaurant at our hotel for a fine dinner before returning to our rooms for a good night's sleep.