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Beginnings, Walls, Gates and Defences, Forum / Basilica, Beautification, Tombstones and Graves, Aquaduct and Sewers
DON'T FORGET TO LOOK AT THE TOURISM PAGES FOR A TOUR AROUND ROMAN LINCOLN
Lincoln had previously been an Iron Age settlement of the Corieltauvi, known as 'Lindon', 'the place by the pool', situated at the bottom of the hill. The strategic advantages of the hilltop location must have been as obvious to the Romans as they are to us today. As well as being superbly defensible, there was an immediate water source with the Witham, and access to the Humber, Wash and Trent (via the River Till) nearby, important both for control of the population and for trade. An exact date for the founding of the fortress is not known, but it appears to have been to the AD60's, in the reign of Nero (AD54-68). Tantalising evidence has come to light, however, from a site in the south of Lincoln, at the bottom of the hill, suggesting that the first fort at Lincoln was built there in the AD50's. Tombstones were discovered in a regular pattern reminiscent of the positioning of tombs around the gates and roads away from Roman settlements, and the spacing reinforced this theory. Whether further discoveries prove this to be true or not, it was the hilltop fortress which developed. There is no evidence to suggest that the Corieltauvi were a troublesome tribe, and in AD71 Legio IX headed northwards again, this time to found York. Lincoln was then inhabited by Legio II Adiutrix (not to be confused with Legio II Augusta). The fortress was modified under the new occupiers, with alterations made to the Principia (headquarters building) and barrack blocks. Some time after Legio II Adiutrix moved to Chester in AD78 or 79, Lincoln became a Colonia, a settlement for retired soldiers . Again, the dating for this change is not accurate, but a record of the original name gives some indication. Upon becoming a Colonia, Lincoln was known as Colonia Domitiana Lindensium. This reference to the Emperor Domitian (81-96) provides us with his reign as a rough dating tool. One of the less infamous rulers, though by reputation rather than deed, a 'damnatio memoriae' was placed on him after death, wiping his name from public records . The name of Lincoln thus became simplified as Lindum Colonia. With the status of Colonia and the lack of an active military presence, Lincoln was open to a period of growth and Romanisation to rival any town in Britain.
The defences of the City served as protection against attack, but also as a symbol of Roman authority. As Lincoln began as a Legionary fortress, the original walls and gates were of timber. It was only when the settlement became established that the first stone walls were built. The Legionary defences enclosed c.41 acres, and occupied a position on the edge of the hill, overlooking the Witham valley. The redevelopment of the walls began soon after the fortress became a Colonia, with the stone cladding of the walls, gates and interval towers. This facia was constructed over the original ditch, and the lack of proper foundations led to the walls beginning to lean outwards over time. As the Colonia developed and grew, it expanded downhill towards the river and Brayford Pool. This expansion was also walled and had four main gates, the north gate being the south gate of the upper city. At some time between AD210 and 230, it appears that the four main gates of the upper city were rebuilt on a much larger scale. The east gate was the main entrance to the Colonia, somwhat surprising when it is considered that the other major Roman settlements were located to the south, north and west. However, the unique location of Lincoln meant that it was only from the east that wagons and vehicles could travel easily up the hill, as the southern entrance meant a steep climb, as it still does today. The east gate was the most impressive, and had two carriageways, indicating the amount of wheeled traffic that was intended to travel through it. The visible remains are pictured below, consisting of one of the great guard towers.
The north gate is one of the most famous gates in Roman Britain, Newport Arch. It has only a single arch for traffic, and two smaller arches for pedestrians, although only one of these survives. Although not the main gate to the Colonia, it must still have seen a large amount of traffic, as Ermine Street extends north from it towards York. The pictures below show the arch and the remains of the tower.
Parts of the wall near to Newport Arch can be seen on East Bight (they are in the back gardens of some houses!). The remains here consist of a wall section, an interval tower and, most interestingly, the remains of a water tank. It was at this point that the aquaduct entered the Colonia (see 'Aquaduct and Sewers') and provided water for the populace, and the nearby public baths.
The south gate of the upper city is only still visible if you know what you are looking for, since its location on Steep Hill has seen constant development since the early medieval period. It survives as a strip of stone in the wall of Imperial Teas, seen below, and also in the interior wall of the shop opposite. The renovation of this shop revealed the carriageways of the gate, showing it to be a double carriageway, as with the East gate.
The upper west gate has now disappeared from view completely, only having seen the light of day again when it was excavated in the nineteenth century. Unfortunately it collapsed soon afterwards, and was re-covered. It had a single carriageway, and is situated in the west bank of the castle, just north of the Norman west gate. The line of the castle wall follows the Roman wall line. In comparison with the upper city, the lower city's gates have almost completely disappeared. The east gate was at the junction of Clasketgate and Monks road, and is now buried underneath one of Lincoln's busiest traffic junctions. The south gate is underneath the Stonebow, the medieval south gate, and as such will never be seen again, unless something catastrophic happens to the Stonebow. The lower west gate was located at the junction of Motherby Hill and West Parade, although again this is now buried under tarmac. Motherby Hill is worth mentioning at this point, being built on top of the wall, with the defensive ditch visible to the east. The picture below shows the hill, looking down from about half way up.
Two gates which have survived were later additions to the wall, being built in the fourth century. The postern gate is now underneath the Bank of Scotland, in Saltergate, and can only be seen on certain days of the year, by arrangement through the City and County Museum (see their details in 'tourism'). This gate was designed for pedestrians rather than traffic, being only 6' wide, not enough to admit a chariot or trading cart. It allowed access to the waterfront, the River coming close the wall. This gate is well worth a visit, as the level of preservation is superb, even down to the worn Roman road surface, and marks where the wooden door has scraped. The picture below shows the gateway, but by no means does it justice.
The other gate is visible, although it has become susceptible to vandalism and the elements. It is located underneath City Hall, which was raised to protect the gate. It is substantially larger than the postern gate and can be seen below. Both the postern gate and the west gate contain fragments of earlier public buildings. In the case of the west gate, this includes a beautiful carved stone. The gate contains a cast of the stone, the original of which is displayed in City Hall's entrance suite.
The Forum and Basilica complex was at the heart of any Roman settlement, be it the Forum Romanum in Rome, or its equivalent in Lincoln. The Basilica was the civic centre of the town, containing the law courts and magistrate's offices. The forum was the public meeting place, a courtyard with shops, market stalls, temples and statues. The complex was situated on the same site as the former fortress Principia, the headquarters building. There are a variety of visible remains of the complex. A row of cobbled circles in Bailgate marks the positions of the columns supporting the front of the forum, and part of the north wall of the Basilica still stands in the form of the Mint Wall, pictured below.
Another important element of the public forum was the well, one method used to supply public water. Although it seems primitive when compared to the grand fountains that adorned other areas of the city, its use as a practical necessity cannot be underestimated. Its remains can be seen below, and in reality are located just off St. Paul in the Bail. The tiles which charactirise Roman building work can clearly be seen.
Elaborate public statuary and decoration is one of the things that sets Romano-British society apart from other periods in history. As a flourishing and successful settlement, Lincoln was no exception to this. The proliference came about through the fashion of displaying wealth through public gifts. As this fashion changed in the later Empire to more private shows of excess, the public beautification began to stop. However, in its heyday Lincoln could rival any town in the Province for public extravagance. One fine example of this was the bronze life size equestrian statue in the Forum. Unfortunately, only a horse's foreleg has been found, so the subject of the statue is open to interpretation. Only one public fountain is known about at present, although that figure is bound to increase as further opportunities for archaeological excavation increase in the more built up areas of the City. It was discovered on the line of the High Street, just inside the southern gate. It was octagonal in shape.
When talking of Roman beautification, one medium above all stands out - mosaics. Although I haven't the space to discuss all of Lincoln's mosaics here, or the copyright to reproduce images, without which the descriptions would be pretty useless anyway, I can talk about one interesting mosaic. It is inside Lincoln Cathedral, located near the entrance to the Wren Library and the Coffee Shop. The mosaic design shows stars, hearts, lotus flowers and buds and ivy leaves, contained in a black and white border. It was discovered during floor repairs in 1793, although it has never been discovered what type of building it came from. Unfortunately the mosaic is hard to see, as information boards now stand over it, blocking it from view.
Tombstones provide a unique and interesting source of information to archaeologists, and the examples from Lincoln are no exception. Perhaps the most famous tombstone is that of Gaius Valerius, the standard bearer of the Ninth legion. It wa discovered in 1909 on the South Common. It would have stood, when complete, to a height of about 2 metres (7ft). The inscription is below, with the bracketed letters being the extensions of abbreviations.
G(AIUS) VALERIUS G(AII) F(ILIUS)
MAEC(IA TRIBU) MIL(ES) LEG(IONIS)
IX SIGN(IFER) C(ENTURIAE) HOSPITIS
ANN(ORUM) XXXV STIP(ENDIORUM) XIIII
T(ESTAMENTO) P(ONI) I(USSIT)
H(IC) S(ITUS) E(ST)
Gaius Valerius, son of Gaius,
of the Maecian voting-tribe, soldier of the Ninth legion,
standard bearer of the century of Hospes,
aged 35, with 14 years' service,
left instructions in his will for this (tombstone) to be set up.
Here he lies.
We know that Gaius Valerius died and was buried some time between AD60 and AD77, although the lack of a 'cognomen' (a third name), indicates that it was before AD70, when they became common amongst soldiers.
Another interesting tombstone from Lincoln can still be seen in public. It marked the graves of Sacer, a Roman from Gaul (modern France), his wife Cassouna and their son Quintus. It can be seen at the base of the Anglo Saxon tower of St Mary le Wigford Church, as it was reused for an inscription to Ertig, who donated money for the building of the church. rather than obliterate the Roman inscription, the Saxon one has been carved in the apex of the tombstone. Of the civilian tombstones, one stands out from the rest belonged to Volusia Faustina, the wife of Aurelius Senicio, the decurion of Lincoln, an important public official. This has led to the tombstone ending up in the collections of the British Museum. Lincoln also has the unusual honour of having the tombstone of the oldest known woman in Roman Britain, Claudia Chrysis, who was in her nineties when she died. The tombstones are held in the stores of the City and County Museum.
The aquaduct that provided Lincoln's water is one of the great mysteries of Roman Britain. The line it took across the countryside is known, the now dried up river that supplied it has been discovered, numerous pieces of the pipe are in the museum, yet one problem has seen archaeologists in debate since the 1950's. The problem surrounds how the water was pumped up the hill to Lincoln, a height of around 21 metres (70ft). The aquaduct may have begun at the Roaring Meg spring, out on the line of the modern Nettleham Road, and indeed a well preserved section of pipe can be seen at the Safeway Store, as well as a small exhibition on the aquaduct. The Safeway section is pictured below. It has been suggested that it ran further than the Roiaring Meg, perhaps even to the edge of the Wolds.
The name aquaduct brings to mind a fantastically impressive arched structure dominating the countryside. This is not entirely true for the Lincoln structure (there were no valleys to cross!), but there may have been arched bridge to cross the Roaring Meg. The majority of the pipe actually ran underground, encased in concrete, until it was about 48 metres (160ft), at which point it sat along the top of an embankment. The arguments surrounding the pumping of water run into a mire of mathematical equasions which it is not my intention to go into here, but if you wish to read more, I suggest John Wacher's 'The Towns of Roman Britain', as he sums up the arguments well.
The sewers of Roman Lincoln are also of great interest. If the importance of Lincoln in Roman Britain was ever in any doubt, the sewer system should put them to rest. It was one of the most advanced systems to be seen in Britain. The main north south sewer, running underneath Bailgate measured 1.5 metres (5ft) high and 1.2 metres (4ft) wide and was built of stone. Smaller sewers ran off it from public buildings and even individual houses, and manholes placed at regular intervals allowed for cleaning and repair. The size and complexity of the system indicates a large and well organised amount of water regularly flowing through it, something which should be borne in mind when discussing the problems with the aquaduct.
