Scheregate is Colchester’s only surviving medieval gate. It takes its unusual name from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘sceard’ meaning a gap or notch, as it gave townspeople a short cut through the Roman wall to St John’s Abbey, a short distance to the south.
As in the medieval period, the gateway still has shops to either side and a section of the Roman wall can be seen in the shop on the right hand side before you climb the steps, number 3 Scheregate.
The timber-framed buildings beside and over the gate mostly date from the 17th century. There is a fine carved wooden corner post on the building to the west side of the opening to the gate at the corner with St John’s Street.
From Scheregate, you enter into the shopping areas within the town’s Roman wall.
