The Balkerne Gate was the main (west) gate into the walled Roman town and one of six gates around the circuit of the Town Wall. The Gate incorporated an existing free-standing monumental arch (with two archways) built to celebrate the Claudian conquest...

In 2019-2020, a collaborative project was undertaken between Colchester Borough Council, BA Photography students from UCC Colchester Institute, Colchester Archaeological Trust and archaeological imaging consultant Prof. Dominic Powlesland, to generate ...

Colchester’s Town Wall is the earliest and one of the most complete town wall circuits surviving from Roman Britain, dated to c.AD 65-80. The Wall was constructed in a calcareous mudstone, septaria, imported from an outcrop near Harwich, supplemented b...

Welcome to the Colchester Heritage Explorer Please note this site has recently been upgraded, and now includes the Colchester Borough Local List and several other new features - please report any issues through our Contact Form. ...

The main west gate of the Roman colonia. A freestanding monumental arch (MCC718), probably constructed when the colonia was founded in AD 49, was incorporated into a larger gateway when the wall (MCC859) was added to the refounded colonia following the Boudican revolt (although the date of the wall is subject to interpretation). The surviving (south) pedestrian archway, and the southern guardroom, is only a small part of what was a massive entranceway (30m long N to S) into Roman Colchester from the west. Most of the gate was demolished, and the gap filled in, c.AD 300.

Double monumental arch constructed, probably, when the colonia was founded in AD 49. The arch was subsequently incorporated into the Balkerne Gate (MCC555), the main west gate into the colonia, when the wall (MCC859) was added to the refounded colonia.

The Town Wall was intially constructed free standing at an early date following the Boudican revolt, although the exact date is open to interpretation. Six gates were built into the wall, including the Balkerne Gate (MCC555) on the west side - the main gate - which incorporated a free-standing monumental arch (MCC718), as well as a series of rectangular towers and tile drains at the end of streets. An interior rampart was added in the late 2nd century AD and, at some point, a V-shaped defensive ditch was cut around the outer foot of the wall. This was modified in the late 3rd century, and two of the town gates were closed off. Major repairs were carried out in 1173-4. During the Middle Ages there were four main gates (along with two or three pedestrian gates) into the walled town, with the main gate on the south side near the south-west corner, Head Gate. A programme of repairs was initiated between c.1381-1413, including the addition of eight bastions on the south-east circuit (four survive above ground). Beside the four principal gates, there were two sherde (pedestrian) gates, on the north and south sides of the circuit, and another on the west side; no medieval gate structures survive above ground. The town wall and its gates suffered significant damage during the 1648 Siege.

Excavations at the Balkerne Gate revealed an important sequence; a: a gravelled surface and road laid, legionary fortress ditch dug - c.43AD b: flimsy stake-hole structures built along the street frontage c: small metalworking workshops and

Town walls of Roman Colchester - see separate entries for gates, towers, etc.

In 1975 the balcony of the `Hole in the Wall' was demolished and replaced with a new open plan structure to display the remains of the Balkerne Gate to more effect.