Verulamium Roman City, St Alban's

24 May 2003

A visit to the Roman city of Verulamium, on the edge of the city of St Alban's

The Roman theatre. Built in the middle of the 2nd century and enlarged around 150 years later, this is one of only six theatres believed to have existed in Roman Britain.

Looking across the arena to the stage.

Looking along one of the three gangways through which performers reached the arena.

The south wall of St Michael's church showing reused Roman tiles

The east end of the church, with lots of red Roman bricks and tiles.

Looking at the foundations of London Gate and part of the city wall. The walls are about 3.6km long, and were originally 5m high and 3m thick. Most of the stone in the walls and the city was used in the construction of St Alban's, particularly the cathedral. The wall was built A.D. 265-270, and constructed of mortared flint layered with red brick bonding.

From the left hand tower of the London Gate, you can just see in this photo the narrow pedestrian passage, then two vehicle passages, then another pedestrian passage before the right hand tower.

Artist's impression of the London Gate

The remains of the city wall at St Germain's Block, with the cathedral behind