St. Martin's Gate, Chester

St Martin’s Gate is the most recent addition to Chester City Walls. It was opened in 1966, as part of the Inner Ring Road scheme, designed to ease the city's traffic problems. The Gate's name derived from a small ancient church which once stood nearby for the best part of a millennium. It was closed in 1963 to be demolished around 1969 so as to give space for the road, a nearby part of which is now known as "St Martin's Way".

Ahead of the building work, a team of archaeologists undertook a 16-week investigation of the site. During construction, remains of a Roman tower were found, along with some Roman and Saxon pottery, as well as the foundations of some previously-unknown agricultural buildings and features associated with a Roman cemetery. A large amount of green and yellow-glazed medieval roof tiles were also discovered, as well as later material dating from the 17th-19th centuries. These relics can now be seen through observation ports in the surrounding fencing, decorated with a series of fine murals by six local primary schools on the theme of “Routeways to Chester through Time”.

Typically for the 1960s, St. Martin's Gate was built in concrete. As you stand on top of it, the view from up here is the full extent of the North Wall, from Bonewaldesthorne's Tower to The Northgate. On occasions, you can see barges on the canal, bicycles on the towpath, trains on the railway and, inevitably, cars on the road below – all at the same time.

Today, St. Martin's is a very popular attraction and well worth your visit.