lincoln

TimeTeam Forum Friends
National Meet - LINCOLN
Saturday 22nd May 2004


REPORT & PHOTO'S & CAPTION'S by Phil.B

OK. So this report may not include full details of what we saw as I probably missed a lot en-route. BUT!!!! I've done my best. If you saw or heard anything you think may benefit this report, especially where you see (?) please let me know.
Please use the photo's below the report as links to the relevant sections.

Thank-you!


It was a gloriously sunny Saturday morning when we gathered in Lincoln's Castle Square. Our guide for the next couple of hours was Antony Lee, from Lincoln Museum, who wasted no time in handing round a factsheet to the eager Forum Friends around him. Our first port of call was the Newport Arch. This is apparently the only standing Roman Arch in the country that still has motorised traffic going through it, though in 1963 a Grimsby fish lorry tried to make it an 'un-standing' arch so to speak! The archaeology at this point is around two metres deep.
From here we turned right along East Bight, which follows the line of an Anglo-Saxon lane, to the remains of a Roman Water Tower. It was then just a short distance to the Roman East Gate remains. Returning to Castle Square and on up Bailgate (where the locations of the Roman Basilica's columns are marked on the road surface) we came to a point where there were the remains of a well and an outline of a church building on the floor. Antony proceeded to give us an in-depth talk regarding the use of this area from being the Roman Basilica site up to it's last use (?). Just around the corner we were shown an impressive length of Roman Wall, believed to be part of the Basilica, which also had signs of multiple use over the centuries.

We then made our way to the very modern concrete City Hall. In it's shadows are two well preserved sections of Roman Wall either side of a gateway, although this gateway post-dates the wall by a number of years. In the gateway is a replica of a piece of Roman masonry which is now located inside the City Hall. The damage to this replica shows why the original was removed from it's position. Our next stop was the Posterngate.
Located underneath the Royal Bank of Scotland lie the substantial piles of masonry belonging to the Roman Posterngate. Access was via a narrow staircase and the viewing had to be done in two groups due to restrictive space. The walls themselves seemed to be in good condition and parts gave a good cross section of a Roman wall. They were however very fragile due to the watertable (a pump was installed) and the sandstone acting like a sponge, so to speak.

The Stonebow and Guildhall were the next items on Antony's packed agenda. These buildings have been nearly everything from the Town Hall to the Jail (before it moved to the Castle). It is indeed a very impressive piece of architecture and stands on the site of the Roman South Gate. The present buildings date from circa 1520. From the Stonebow we made our way southwards, stopping off at the riverbank to look at the medieval bridge, before continuing on to St. Mary-le-Wigford church. I must confess to not hearing a lot of what was said at this point although I do remember the Roman Tombstone re-used in the building of the church.
Retracing our steps back through the Stonebow, we headed on towards the lower slopes of Steep Hill known as The Straits. We stopped at, if I remember correctly, (but am not sure), a building called the Judge's house (?). It was at this point that we went a little off-track by Antony taking us on a brief sojourn into the very near future! He accomplished this by showing us the shell of what is to be the new Lincoln Museum.

From this point we made our way back around the block to emerge at the bottom of Steep Hill directly opposite the Jew's House and the Jew's Court. As we made our way up Steep Hill we passed another building on our right that is now, as I recall, a Wine Shop. It's original name is lost to me (?). We were soon back in Castle Square where we turned right and made our way through the Exchequer Gate.
Lincoln Cathedral loomed large above us and Antony proceeded to once again give a pretty in-depth talk as we made our way around the side of the Cathedral along Minster Yard. It was at this point that, approx 3 hours after starting out, Antony delivered his closing speech. The whole Group was unanimous in thanking Antony for his time and making our venture to Lincoln most memorable.


   
 The Lincoln Tour Those who attended 

   
 Lincoln Castle.... ...and Lincoln Cathedral 

Links to more TimeTeam Forum Friends pictures from Lincoln

Chris M's photo's
co's photo's
peterdstraw's photo's
tabby's photo's
tilthammer's photo's
Wendy & Jim's photo's - courtesy of Sporg
Humus' photo's