Newgate was one of the principal western gateways through the landward circuit of the Roman city wall of Londinium, carrying the road westwards towards Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) via the crossing at the Fleet. The gate and adjacent wall were constructed as part of the city's defensive circuit around AD 190–225, with the gate itself a substantial double-carriageway structure flanked by guard chambers, and the line was later strengthened in the late Roman period by the addition of external bastions.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
As one of the four original Roman gates of Londinium (alongside Aldgate, Bishopsgate, and Ludgate), Newgate controlled traffic on a major arterial route from the provincial capital towards the western civitates and military sites in the south-west, and its twin carriageways indicate the heavy volume of wheeled traffic anticipated. The gate's continued use into the medieval period — when it gave its name to the notorious prison — demonstrates the durability of Roman urban infrastructure in shaping the topography of later London.
Excavations at Newgate in 1875 and again during 20th-century redevelopment along Newgate Street recorded the foundations of the Roman gate, showing a four-square plan with two carriageways approximately 4.8 m wide separated by a central pier, flanked by rectangular guard towers; sections of the associated wall, built of Kentish ragstone with characteristic tile bonding courses, have been recorded along
Newgate was one of the principal western gateways through the landward circuit of the Roman city wall of Londinium, carrying the road westwards towards Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) via the crossing at the Fleet. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a site site from the Roman period in Britain.
London Wall: site of Newgate and 121-124 Newgate Street, remains of Roman and medieval wall, gateway and bastion is classified as a Roman site — a civilian site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including London Wall: section of Roman wall at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey (0.1 km), London Wall: section of Roman wall and medieval bastion in Postman's Park and King Edward Street (0.2 km), Remains of Roman and medieval wall and gateway W of boundary of Stationers' Hall to Ludgate Hill (0.2 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
Aubrey Research generates detailed historical reports for any location in Britain, incorporating Roman heritage, Domesday Book records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and much more. Enter a nearby address to begin.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any address in Britain — drawing on Roman heritage, Domesday records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and medieval history to reveal the complete story of a landscape.
Research the area around London Wall: site of Newgate and 121-124 Newgate Street, remains of Roman and medieval wall, gateway and bastion