Ancient Roman drains under Colchester could be opened to public

The 2,000-year-old drain runs from Colchester High Street through to Castle Park and continues past the historic Duncan’s Gate landmark in the upper section of the park.

History experts at Colchester Museums have been aware of the system running below residents’ feet for years, but were finally given access by the park’s management team to head down into the eerie tunnels.

Alongside Colchester Council, they are now hoping to making the drains viewable by residents and the Duncan’s Gate site be given some TLC to make it attractive to visitors.

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Frank Hargrave, of Colchester Museums, headed down into the drains alongside Colchester councillor Darius Laws and said it was a “fascinating” experience.

Eerie - Darius Laws took a trip into the drains with the hope one day residents will be able to take a look

“The Romans introduced sewers and drainage, we didn’t really see them again until late Medieval or early modern times - they were a bit of a marvel of engineering,” said Mr Hargrave.

“It’s a fascinating area and it’s not often you walk into a 2,000-year-old historic structure underground.

“It’s not common, not many cities have features like these.

“We are exploring its potential as opening it up wouldn’t come without challenges.

“There is a good section which is viewable, but we need to find an architectural solution to allow people to look into it.”

Entrance - the drains run from High Street to below Castle Park

The sewage system runs underneath Duncan’s Gate and the museums team, along with Mr Laws, want to celebrate its significance.

Mr Hargrave continued: “It’s one of the only surviving Roman gates in the town along with Balkerne Gate, but this one is particularly interesting as it actually shows where it has collapsed.

“It looks like there is evidence of burning as early as the fifth century, which is all part of the decline of the Roman Empire.

“Here you are seeing the story of the Roman Empire getting abandoned very tangibly, which is really quite powerful when you look at it from that perspective.

“But right now it’s a little bit ignored, which is a shame, but we are working on clearing the area and preserving it.”