Housesteads, Chesters, Birdoswald and more
Forts along the line and behind it, and who lived in them.
Jump to: Housesteads | Chesters | Birdoswald | Vindolanda | Segedunum | Arbeia
Housesteads
Housesteads is the most complete example of a Roman fort in Britain. English Heritage: History of Housesteads Roman Fort Housesteads covers 2.2 hectares and was built for an infantry regiment of 800 men (a milliary cohort). English Heritage: History of Housesteads Roman Fort
Housesteads was garrisoned by auxiliaries: infantry and cavalry raised from the peoples Rome had conquered. English Heritage: History of Housesteads Roman Fort The first cohort of Tungrians, recruited around Tongres in modern Belgium, garrisoned Housesteads from the late 2nd to the 4th century. English Heritage: History of Housesteads Roman Fort
From the early 3rd century, extra units from Frisia (now north-east Holland) were at Housesteads. English Heritage: History of Housesteads Roman Fort By AD 138 Housesteads was one of 15 forts, with a total garrison of nearly 10,000 men along the Wall. English Heritage: History of Housesteads Roman Fort
Inside, Housesteads had a grid plan: headquarters (principia), commanding officer’s house (praetorium), granaries (horrea), probably a hospital (valetudinarium) and at least 10 barrack blocks. English Heritage: Description of Housesteads Roman Fort
Housesteads has the best-preserved stone-built latrines of any Roman fort in Britain. English Heritage: Significance of Housesteads Roman Fort The Knag Burn gateway at Housesteads is a unique surviving example of a gateway through Hadrian’s Wall. English Heritage: Significance of Housesteads Roman Fort
Turret 36b, built with the Wall before the fort, now lies inside Housesteads’ fort walls. English Heritage: History of Housesteads Roman Fort In the 16th century the antiquary William Camden avoided Housesteads for fear of the “ranke robbers thereabouts”. English Heritage: History of Housesteads Roman Fort
Chesters
Chesters, called Cilurnum by the Romans, was a cavalry fort built in about AD 124 for some 500 cavalrymen. English Heritage: History of Chesters Roman Fort Early new forts like Chesters straddled the Wall, half to the north and half to the south; a turret was demolished to make room. English Heritage: History of Chesters Roman Fort
The first cavalry unit at Chesters would have needed 16 stable-barracks, each housing some 32 men and their horses. English Heritage: History of Chesters Roman Fort Auxiliary cavalry were recruited for their skills on horseback; a cavalry unit from Spain was stationed at Chesters. English Heritage: Hadrian’s Wall, History and Stories
By AD 178–84 Chesters was held by the Second Asturians, a cavalry unit raised in northern Spain. English Heritage: History of Chesters Roman Fort
The external baths at Chesters are the most complete set of Roman baths to be seen in Britain. English Heritage: Significance of Chesters Roman Fort Chesters’ headquarters has a strongroom with its vaulted roof still intact. English Heritage: Description of Chesters Roman Fort
John Clayton (1792–1890) excavated at Chesters from 1843 and bought up stretches of the central Wall, saving them from stone robbers. English Heritage: Significance of Chesters Roman Fort Chesters’ site museum opened in 1896 to house John Clayton’s collection. English Heritage: History of Chesters Roman Fort
At Chesters, a large road bridge was built in about AD 160 to carry the Military Way over the North Tyne. English Heritage: Description of Hadrian’s Wall In about AD 675 Saxon builders took stone from the Roman bridge at Chesters for the church at Hexham. English Heritage: History of Chesters Roman Fort
Birdoswald
Birdoswald was garrisoned by an infantry cohort of over 800 men; its defences are the best preserved on the Wall. English Heritage: History of Birdoswald Roman Fort At Birdoswald the Wall and turret 49a were partly demolished to make room for the fort, which was built astride the Wall. English Heritage: History of Birdoswald Roman Fort
From the 3rd century Birdoswald was held by the first cohort of Dacians, recruited from what is now Romania. English Heritage: History of Birdoswald Roman Fort Dacian inscriptions at Birdoswald show their curved sword, the falx, with a palm frond. English Heritage: History of Birdoswald Roman Fort
Birdoswald was certainly not given up in the Antonine period (about AD 142–60), but may have had a reduced caretaker garrison. English Heritage: History of Birdoswald Roman Fort
Birdoswald was still lived in after Roman rule ended: timber halls were built on the site of the granaries. English Heritage: History of Birdoswald Roman Fort
At Birdoswald, dogs may have kept rats and mice away from the grain stores. English Heritage: Hadrian’s Wall, History and Stories
Vindolanda
Vindolanda, just south of the Wall, was first built in timber in about AD 85, almost 40 years before the Wall. The Vindolanda Trust: Why is Vindolanda to the south of Hadrian’s Wall? Vindolanda means “white field” or “white lawn”. The Vindolanda Trust: Fact file, Vindolanda
There were at least 9 forts at Vindolanda: each new garrison knocked down the old fort and built a new one. The Vindolanda Trust: Fact file, Vindolanda Vindolanda held 500 men when the fort was smaller and up to 1,000 when it was bigger. The Vindolanda Trust: Fact file, Vindolanda
Soldiers at Vindolanda included Tungrians (Belgium), Batavians (Netherlands), Vardullian cavalry (northern Spain) and Nervians and Gauls (France). The Vindolanda Trust: Fact file, Vindolanda
Segedunum, Wallsend
Segedunum at Wallsend, the eastern end of the Wall, was built around AD 124. North East Museums: Segedunum, the fort site (teacher notes) In about AD 200 Segedunum held a cohort of 480 infantry and 120 cavalry. North East Museums: Segedunum, the fort site (teacher notes)
Segedunum’s museum says it is the only place in the Western Roman Empire where a complete fort ground plan can be seen. North East Museums: Segedunum, the fort site (teacher notes)
Arbeia, South Shields
Arbeia at South Shields was held by the Fifth Cohort of Gauls and by a unit of Boatmen from the Tigris. North East Museums: Arbeia, the barracks (learning page)
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