LINDUM COLONIA
(Lincoln) Lincolnshire, England.
The major part of the Roman and later development here lies on top of the escarpment N of the
Witham, though suburbs and cemeteries existed also S
of the river. The Roman name is derived from the Celtic
name for a marshy place. Two major Roman roads,
Ermine Street and Fosse Way, met on the S side of the
valley, across which Ermine Street continued to Lindum
and N to York. Thus Lindum's position, commanding
two of the major routes of Roman Britain, made it important in the conquest and settlement; and Ermine
Street was to the end of the Roman period the major
route from London to the N, hence Roman Lincoln's
continued importance. It lay within the lands which had
belonged to the Coritani, but which under Roman rule
were administered from Leicester (Ratae Coritanorum).
Historical summary. The history of the Roman settlement at Lincoln comprises military installations succeeded by a colonia, one of four such chartered towns
known to have existed in the province of Britannia (the
others were Colchester, Gloucester, and York). From inscribed tombstones it is known that Legio IX Hispana
and Legio II Adiutrix served here. The rectangular legionary fortress, shown by excavation to be ca. 16.4 ha
in area, occupied the hilltop. Its defenses, consisting of
an earth rampart faced and retained by timbers, have
been traced on all four sides; one internal tower of timber is known on the W side, and on the E, part of the
gateway structure has been found. Only slight traces have
yet been found of the timber buildings within the defenses. The fortress seems not to have been built until
the 60s, before which Legio IX may have been billeted
in newly discovered campaign forts in the area. But it is
likely that some form of military holding was established
at Lincoln by the late 40s, perhaps an auxiliary fort.
Legio IX moved on to York in A.D. 71, and Legio II
Adiutrix then briefly occupied Lincoln before it was
moved, perhaps in 74-75, to build the new fortress at
Chester. After ca. 20 years, at the end of the 1st c., a
colonia was founded on the same rectangular hilltop site.
It had defenses of stone, with internal towers added at
intervals to the wall. Perhaps at the same time the town
developed down the slope towards the river. The slope
is known to have been walled as well, making an eventual defended area of 34.8 ha. Excavations have shown
a sequence of defenses down the hill: 2d c. walls were
refurbished and strengthened in the 4th c., when a gate
with a single roadway was created. This is now preserved
and open to the public.
Major visible remains. The most notable remains still
to be seen in the hilltop colonia are those of the N gate,
Newport Arch, which consisted originally of a central
roadway 4.5 m wide, flanked by footways. It is still used
today.
At the E gate, the N tower has been completely excavated and elements of three main phases can be seen.
The front range of the post-holes of the legionary gateway, 0.3 m square, received a stone fronting in the late
1st or early 2d c. with the foundation of the colonia. Not
earlier than the 3d c. the whole gateway was rebuilt on
a monumental plan, with semicircular bastions projecting
beyond the line of the wall. In this version the gate had
two roadways, and may well have been the main gate
of Lincoln by that time, if not earlier.
Parts of only one internal building within the colonia
are visible in situ: a portion of a massive colonnade
preserved in a house in Bailgate on the W side of the
main Roman N-S street, in the central area. The socalled Mint Wall, visible nearby, probably formed part
of the N wall of this colonnaded building. Architectural
cornices, from demolished monumental buildings, were
also found here and are preserved in the museum with
many other finds.
Other notable discoveries. Sections of an aqueduct approaching the NE corner of the hilltop site have been
excavated. Collared pipes, sheathed with a heavy concrete
jacket, carried the water from its presumed source some
2.8 km from the town. But the gradient runs counter to
the course of the pipeline, so staged force-pumps may
have been used.
A number of local pottery kilns supplying everyday
needs from the early 2d c. until the 4th are known. Something of an industrial area seems to have grown up at
Swanpool and Bootham, ca. 3.2 km SW of Lincoln,
where pottery making was concentrated in the late 3d
and 4th c.
Oölitic limestone of fine quality was quarried locally;
a likely source is N of the colonia on Ermine Street
where stone was later quarried for Lincoln cathedral.
Another quarry at Greetwell 2.4 km E of Lincoln is still
in use, and a large Roman house or houses have been
recorded nearby.
Suburbs were strung out across the valley along Ermine
Street, and possibly also along the Fosse Way. Cemeteries
are ill-defined, but military burials have been found close
to Ermine Street where it crosses the Witham valley S
of Lincoln, and civilian burials mainly W, N, and E of
the walled area. Most discoveries were in the 19th c.,
however, and were not well recorded.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ptolemy
Geog. 2.3.20;
Memoirs illustrative of the History and Antiquities of the County and
City of Lincoln (1848);
Roman Lincoln, 1945-46 (1946);
ArchJ 103 (1946) 26ff & bibl.;
AntJ 27 (1947) 61ff;
JRS 39 (1949) 57-78; 40 (1950) 99;
ArchJ 140 (1954)
106-28;
Ten Seasons' Digging, 1945-54 (1955); Ordnance Survey,
Map of Roman Britain (1956);
ArchJ
117 (1960) 40-70;
RIB 1; J. B. Whitwell,
Roman Lincolnshire (1970) 17-43 & bibl.; interim reports,
Britannia passim.
J. B. WHITWELL
