Tickets Alert: Tours of a Roman London gatehouse

Underneath a busy central London road are the remains of one of London’s only surviving Roman gatehouses, which the London Museum offers occasional tours of.

(c) ianVisits

To visit is to pass through a set of locked doors next to a car park and into a slighlty musty room where you can see the hidden stone gatehouse and learn more about its lost history.

Part of the reason why the gatehouse is so little known is that it’s thought it was blocked off early in its life, and when Brits returned to the City of London after the Romans left, the gatehouse was never reused. That’s possibly why it never became one of the city’s major gates – Ludgate, Newgate, Aldersgate, Cripplegate, Moorgate, Bishopsgate, and Aldgate, although no one is sure about this.

Apart from this small room with the remains, there isn’t a lot to see, but it is still one of the more important pieces of Roman London and worth spending an hour visiting as the tour also includes the surface remains next to the former Museum of London.

The next tours will take place on:

  • Sunday 13th October at 2pm
  • Thursday 17th October at 6pm
  • Sunday 27th October at 2pm

Tickets cost £10 per person and can be booked here.

The Roman Gatehouse is underneath London Wall, next to the former Museum of London — and while you’re there, it’s worth going into the car park and walking to the far end to see another little known piece of Roman Wall.