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Roman Gate the Newport Arch - Lincoln

Lincoln's most famous Roman monument the 'Newport Arch'. Here we see the surviving part of the inner section of the northern gate which spanned the major Roman Road of Ermine Street. The gate was built in the 3rd century when Lincoln's status was advanced in the empire and declared 'LINDVM COLONIA' a settlement for retired Roman military personnel. The outer section of the Roman gate was demolished in the 1700s. The arch formed a tunnel for traffic and on either side smaller tunnels for pedestrians, indeed the eastern walkway tunnel still survives to the right of this main traffic arch. The Newport Arch is the only surviving Roman gate in Britain open to traffic, which proved its partial down fall in the 20th century when a delivery lorry hit the arch at 1 & 2 O'clock on the section face we see here. Fortunately the damaged section of arch was rebuilt exactly as it was with the addition of steel pins being added for strength. May the Roman Arch continue to stand firm even beyond the fall of decadent 'Casino Capitalism' and into the victory of world democratic Socialism and Peace!