Type Gateway to Roman Fort Estimated completion 3rd century Designated 8 October 1953 Town or city Lincoln | Country England Reference no. 1005478 Reference no. 1388450 | |
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Similar Sleaford railway station, Jew's House, Spalding railway station, Skegness railway station, Stamford railway station | ||
Newport Arch is the name given to the remains of a 3rd-century Roman gate in the city of Lincoln, Lincolnshire. It is a Scheduled monument and Grade I listed building and is reputedly the oldest arch in the United Kingdom still used by traffic.
Contents
Map of Newport Arch, Newport, Lincoln LN1 3DF, UK
History
The arch was remodelled and enlarged when the city, then Lindum Colonia a Roman town, became capital of the province Flavia Caesariensis in the 4th century. Though unique in the United Kingdom, it is nevertheless one of many original Roman arches still open to traffic, other examples being two gates through the city walls of the Roman town of Diocletianopolis (now Hisarya, Bulgaria), as well as numerous examples in Turkey.
As the north gate of the city, it carried the major Roman road Ermine Street northward almost in a straight line to the Humber.
From Romano-British Buildings and Earthworks by John Ward (1911):
Accidents
In May 1964 a goods lorry belonging to the Humber Warehousing Co struck the arch while attempting to pass under it.
Forty years later, in May 2004, another lorry struck the arch, causing minor damage.