Roman Colonnade, Bailgate
The plaque on the Lion and Snake acknowledges the site of the Doric portico colonnade of the Roman Basilica, with circles of setts in the road and pavement along Bailgate marking the locations of the column bases.
An 84 metre row of 19 columns made up the front and main entrance portico to the Roman Forum and Basilica and some of the column bases can be seen in the cellars of shops and private houses along Bailgate. Though not open to the public, an inscription on the lintel of a doorway in 26 Bailgate records ‘The base of a Roman Portico discovered MDCCCLXXVIII’
Most of the column bases were discovered in 1878 along with a sewer beneath the main Roman street and a milestone showing the distance to Segelocum (Littleborough) as 14 miles. The rest of the colonnade was found in 1891 and 1897 and from the diameters of 750-800mm their height can be estimated to have been around 8 metres.
Circles of setts in the road and pavement on Bailgate
Discovery of the colonnade in 1878
Plans of remains of Bailgate colonnade and other nearby structures. Produced by George Fox (Archaeologica, 1892)
Doorway at 26 Bailgate
Conjectured reconstruction by Roy Fisk of how the Roman Forum colonnade may have looked in the 2nd Century.
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