West Gate, Lincoln Castle
The only entrance to Lincoln Castle for many years was via the East Gate but when Lincoln Castle had military significance the West Gate would have been the more important entrance to the castle as it gave access to the open country. A two storey gate tower was built in the late 11th or early 12th century. During the 13th or 14th century it was filled with stones and rubble, so blocking it and putting the gateway out of use for many hundreds of years. However, in April 1993 the gate was re-opened after the decision was made to excavate it. The Lincoln Castle Stone Masons spent two years rebuilding the gateway and each stone was hand adjusted. Incidentally the Roman wall was buried within an earth rampart and extended upward to form the Norman castle wall. The Roman west gate (on the same site as the castle's west gate) was excavated in the 19th century but collapsed on exposure.
