Newport Arch in Lincoln

 

The south elevation of Newport Arch

 

On Eastgate, I had encountered the remains of the north tower to the east gate of the city, which is just one of the several fragments of masonry that survives from the wall that once surrounded Lindum Colonia, the Roman city which developed several years after a fort was first established by the 9th Legion - Legio IX Hispana - c. AD 50-60.

 

The north elevation of Newport Arch

Turning south into Newport at the end of Church Lane, I next encountered the spectacular Newport Arch, one of the best known monuments in Roman Britain and the only Roman arch in the UK that is still open to traffic.

 

Another view of the north elevation of Newport Arch

Originally constructed in timber, it was rebuilt in stone at the foundation of the colonia in the late C1, but the arch seen today dates to the early C3, when the original form was a single vehicular arch and two flanking pedestrian arches, of which only the east one survives.

 

The western boundary stone on Newport

Crossing over to the west side of Newport, I noticed an old weathered stone, dated 1738, that I had never seen before, which is adorned with the city crest and marks the city boundary, along with another stone on the opposite side of the road.

 

The remains of a bastion to the north gate tower

Immediately to the south of the boundary stone, a fenced off area – which again I had not seen before - contains the remains of a rounded bastion to the north gate tower. The site was excavated in 1954 and there would have been a matching tower on the east side of the arch, where the house at No. 52 Bailgate is now.

 

A detail of masonry to the north-west wall

Newport Arch originally had an outer northern arch, which was demolished c.1790, and it has been modified and restored many times from the C14 onward. The only Roman masonry that is still left consists of the large stones forming the voussoirs to the main arch and the smaller arch over the passage that is used by pedestrians.

 

A detail of the exposed rubble core

 

On the west side of the arch, next to the Newport Arch Chinese restaurant, there is a good opportunity to examine the construction details of the mediaeval walling. Here, it can be seen that the bulk of the wall consists mainly of a rubble core of locally quarried Lincoln stone, with the same Jurassic limestone used for a relatively thin facing of roughly squared and coursed masonry.

 

A detail of a tourist information panel

On the south side of the arch, on Bailgate, a high quality tourist information panel provides a brief history of this wonderful Scheduled Monument, including a photograph of the damage that was caused by a lorry in 1964, which necessitated its dismantling and rebuilding.

 

The south elevation of Newport Arch