The East gate was unusual in more than one respect. The first being that it was known by one name only – Porth Crockerton. It was already in place in 1171 when William, Earl of Gloucester and Lord of Glamorgan, mentioned it as the eastern boundary of the borough (51). One is tempted to assume that, as it was worthy of being mentioned, it may already have been a stone structure in contrast to the rest of the town’s defenses. Its second unusual characteristic was that the gate appears to have had three arches, more in keeping with the Roman era than the medieval period. Unfortunately, no excavation results, on which today’s tiled marks in Queen Street must have been based, have ever been published thus making the gate’s architectural details inaccessible. The third oddity was the gate’s position in relationship to other buildings nearby. It stood at an awkward angle to the eastern Castle wall as well as to the road it spanned namely Crockherbtown Street. Furthermore, it stood out of line with the eastern town wall itself, thus giving the impression that it was not an integral part of it.

Stewart’s 1824 plan clearly shows that a short, adjoining wall section on the gate’s southern corner had to be placed at a slight angle. This was necessary in order to compensate for the off-line course the eastern town wall had been given from the Cock’s Tower northward. Of course, it is pure conjecture to suggest that the East Gate may have been a pre-stone wall, perhaps even a pre-timber palisade structure. Yet, all the evidence seems to point in that direction. If it is true that the East Gate was of a three-arched design, then one might be tempted to suspect that it had a Roman origin. There is no good reason why the major Roman naval base in the Bristol Channel could not have had a triumphal arch. However, Speed’s 1610 plan unequivocally depicts a single arched East Gate which raises the question of ‘who was right’, Speed in 1610 or the City Council in the 1980s?

Although apparently not destroyed during the 1404 raid, the East Gate appears to have been restored between 1429 and 1451. However, after the mid-16t^h century it deteriorated like all the other town gates, presumably losing its arches first. The Council records of 1759 reported that the stone work of the gate was in a bad state of repair and needed restoring. However, the ‘rebuilding’ referred to in the Council notes seems to relate to work done on the quay instead (52). For centuries the East Gate’s remnants, i.e. the pillars and later even their former spots, were referred to by Cardiffians as ‘The Pillars’. In the Council meeting of 20^th September 1791 it was decided that: "…the East gate of said Town was to be pulled down and the walls thereunto adjoining it" (53). It had to make way for a wider toll road as well as the Glamorganshire Canal’s needs, i.e. the Crockherbtown Canal lock and weigh-bridge.

Today, all that remains are the tiled outlines of its supposed foundations in the pedestrian precinct of Queen Street. Although the dimensions can hardly be regarded as reliable in the absence of evidence for verification, the central archway (if that is what it was) seems to have been more or less the same in width as the archways in the West and North Gates. Whether or not the arch itself was pointed, as in the case of the two others, or whether it was indeed rounded, as shown on the historical blue-plaque commemorating the gate (54), has to remain pure conjecture – unless one believes Speed’s illustration. The thickness of the adjoining wall, as well as that of the gate itself, also remain conjecture. The markings in Queen Street suggest a thickness of nine and three quarter feet or c. three meters. Stewart’s plan of 1824 shows a cross-section of the two remaining pillars at that time which jut out slightly from the wall, suggesting that the gate building was slightly deeper than the town wall.

continue or go back