When Lincoln's Greatest Roman Treasure was Almost Lost

 

From the original blogpost 31 May 2012

Newport Arch was the north gate of the upper Roman town of Lindum Colonia.  It is now the only Roman arch in the country still open to traffic.  It is the entrance to Lincoln's historic centre that includes most of Roman and Medieval Lincoln.

Newport Arch probably got its name in the medieval period, many houses were demolished for the building of Lincoln castle in the late 11^th century and the displaced residents moved to an area north of what is now known as Newport.  At the time it was open country but soon grew and eventually had its own market.

Built in the 3rd century, Ermine Street passed through it to link Lincoln to another major Roman provincial centre, York.  The arch was enlarged when the city became capital of the province Flavie Caesariensis in the 4th century.  The remains we see today are of the inner arch and a footway on the east side of the arch, the outer arch was demolished in the late 18^th century.  The arch was much higher in Roman times, approximately 2.4 metres of it are below today’s ground level.

More about the design of the gateway was discovered in 1954 when the north-west bastion, a semi-circular  structure, was excavated, the remains of which are still visible.  There would have been another bastion on the north-east side of the gateway, the remains of that are now below the adjoining cottage.

The modern age has brought damage from motor vehicles, the worst of which happened in 1964 when a lorry carrying peas severely damaged the upper part of the arch.  This resulted in its dismantling and rebuilding.  To see an image of the accident please click here.

Lincoln’s Stonebow now stands on the site of the Roman south gate of the lower city

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The Cross on the Hill

 The first of the twelve Eleanor Cross’s stood on Swine Green at the junction of High Street and St Catherines, not far from the present St Catherine’s Priory Centre and the foot of Cross o’ Cliff Hill.  At the top  of the hill  stood another cross, this cross marked the boundary of the southern limits of the City of Lincoln.  By 1600 this cross had been removed “by some evil-disposed person”. The Corporation ordered that a stone should be erected in its place as a landmark.

It was at this spot that the dignitaries of the  Corporation met distinguished visitors arriving from the South.  In 1445, the Mayor, the Sheriffs and aldermen, on bended knees, here received Henry VI and his young bride, Margaret of Anjou.

Mayoral Party, led by trumpeters and javelin men, leaving the Guildhall

Here 172 years later, on March 17th, 1617, the civic authorities all “in long cloth clothes of purple in grain”, the Sheriffs with white staves of office, the others carrying javelins fringed with red and white, waited to meet James I, who had been hunting along the Heath on his way from Grantham; it appears that the king took a different route and missed the civic party.

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When Lincoln Was Numbered

19 to 23 Minster Yard are known as the Number Houses, so-called because they are thought to be the first numbered houses in Lincoln; but why start at 19?

Standing at the north-west corner of Lincoln Cathedral, which they complement.  The houses were built in the early to mid 18th century with 19th century modifications and are, as you would expect, Grade II and Grade II* listed.

Over the years many of the houses have been updated but still retain their character.  The curve of bay windows and the regularity of the Georgian windows place these houses among the finest in the city.    

When house numbering first began, under the Postage Act of 1765, buildings were often numbered in sequence, 1 to x on the left-hand side from a main road, and x+1 (opposite x) to the last number on the other side - a clockwise sequence (Lincoln's High Street retains this numbering sequence).  Later buildings on the left would usually be odd numbers and the opposite side would be even. 

At first sight, nothing remarkable about this mid-19th century row of terraced houses built for the better-off professional classes, in need of tender loving care and blighted by poorly designed double-glazed windows and the ubiquitous wheelie bin.

These seemingly two double-fronted houses are. in fact, four single-fronted houses.  The plaque to the left of the right-hand door shows number 67, and it can be seen from the wheelie bins that the houses are numbered 65 to 71.

This is the artificial stone lintel above the right-hand door:

From this lintel, it can be clearly seen that the houses were previously numbered from 43 to 46.  All the houses were unoccupied in the 1861 census, so they must have been newly built, or in the course of being built at that time.

In 1871 number 43 was still unoccupied, but the others were lived in:

• 44 - John Heywood, age 42, a cashier at an engineering works.  Under where born: "travelling on the continent", his son, Edward, was born at Heywood, Lancashire. 
• 45 - Elizabeth Bullivant, 65, living on her own means, born in Aisthorpe.  
• 46 - George Williamson, 48, Manager Steam Engineer, born Gainsborough.

Sometime between 1891 and 1894, the houses were renumbered to the current sequence.

In the case of Monks Road buildings were numbered sequentially on what would be the right, and when the numbering changed number 1 was still on the right.  I believe the reason for this is that the first houses were built on the south side of the road as Monks Leys Common was on the north side.

When these four houses were built, behind them would be many of the major engineering works of the City, but in front would be a pleasant view of the countryside leading up the hill. To the left would be the recently opened cattle market with a great view of the Cathedral above it.

Many other roads, including High Street, have been re-numbered.

Monks Road Numbering 1894 - New Numbers

Monks Road Numbering 1894 - Old Numbers

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