The above drawing from 1784 shows the north end of Broadgate, the road straight ahead is Clasketgate with the Cask Gate on the right, the gate was pulled down in 1785.
Above is an image of the Blackfriary which was on the east side of Broadgate between Monks Road and Unity Square; it was taken down in 1828.
Broadgate terminates at Magpie Square, just north of the River Witham. In 1842 there was a swing bridge over the river at the south side of Magpie Square which lead to Waterside South, Melville Street wasn't built until the mid-1850s. Two markets bordered Broadgate: the sheep market on the site of the present St Swithin's Church and the Pig Market in what is now Unity square. In 1848 the markets were moved to the Cattle Market on the north side of Monks Road.
Magpies Bridge was built 1858, this image is from 1938, it joined Magpies Square (Broadgate) with Melville Street. The bridge was widened in 1939/1940 and renamed Thornbridge.
This attractive jumble of buildings stood where Premier Inn is now were, photographed in 1973. The corner building on the left was Shipleys, one of Lincoln's leading builders merchants. Shipleys were taken over by Jackson's, a competitor, and the joint company traded as Jackson Shipley but now the Shipley name has been lost and the company now trades as Jackson Building Centres. At the far end of this block of buildings stands the Wheatsheaf Inn, later to be renamed O'Rourkes Irish Bar, a popular Lincoln pub in the 1960s. The tall building in the far background is the Lincoln telephone exchange.
Broadgate 1949. The Drill Hall, known locally as Bread and Cheese Hall, paid for by Joseph Ruston of Ruston, Proctor & Co, for the First Lincoln Volunteer Company, is the building with battlements in the centre-left of the photo.
