Caister-on-Sea Castle
| Caister on Sea Castle | |
|---|---|
| Alternative name | unknown |
| limes | Britain |
| section | Litus saxonicum |
| Dating (occupancy) | 3rd to 4th century AD |
| Type |
a) Cohort and cavalry fort b) Fleet station? |
| unit |
a) Classis Britannica ?, b) Auxiliary cohort ? |
| size | approx. 3.5 ha |
| Construction | Stone fort |
| State of preservation | Square complex with rounded corners, some remains of the wall have been preserved. |
| place | Caister on Sea |
| Geographical location | 52 ° 39 '0 " N , 1 ° 43' 9" E |
| Previous | Branodunum fort north |
| Subsequently | Fort Gariannonum south |
Caister Roman Site was part of the Limes in the British " Saxon Shore " (SK), in today's County (County) Norfolk , Great Yarmouth District, community ( Parish ) Caister-on-Sea in England .
Today, 90% of its area is built over. A small section of the south wall has been preserved and made accessible to visitors. The fort and the neighboring camp at Burgh Castle are nonetheless of particular interest to science in relation to the history and development of the Roman coastal defense in southeastern Britain. Their military function was probably changed several times over the course of time or had to be adapted again and again to the respective threats from invaders, pirates and looters. Since the Caister camp was probably expanded into a monastery in the 7th century, the ground monument is of additional importance in terms of post-military use.
Name and location
The current place name is probably derived from the Latin castra (fort).
The excavation site extends along the north side of Norwich Road (A 1064), on the southeastern edge of the island of Flegg, which is approx. 950 m east of the present-day coastline and approx. 335 m north of the ancient coastline. The Roman fortress originally stood on a small peninsula, bounded on the north side by a twelve-kilometer-wide bay, from where the rivers Ant, Bure, Yare and Waveney flowed into the English Channel. Here the coastline has shifted significantly since Roman times. The mouth of the Yare , in particular , reached far into the mainland in ancient times. The rivers were thus also important transport routes that led into the interior of East Anglia, where most of the Celto Romans lived in small towns, villages and on farms. A larger settlement center was the Roman Caistor-by-Norwich, about 34 km from Caister-on-Sea. Most of the bay is now silted up. In ancient times, the fort stood directly on the coast, about three miles north of today's Great Yarmouth . Where the city is today was then still the open sea.
Research history
In the 17th century Henry Spelman reported in his Norfolk History that most of the fort was still standing at that time. Its ruins were probably still visible above ground until around 1620. However, they were then completely demolished by the first quarter of the 18th century. Even before the first scientific investigations, individual Roman artefacts (ceramics, coins) were repeatedly found. On March 7, 1936, workers found 60 Roman coins in a trench, which were then transferred to the British Museum in London. The slightly worn coins were minted in the mints of Lyon, Arles and Trier between 330 and 337. The final coin comes from the reign of Constantine I. The hoard probably came into the ground at this time - or at least not much later. There is also a report of a hoard found on a building site whose coins came from the time of Victorinus, Allectus, Diocletian, Constantine II and Constantius II.
The knowledge about the dimensions of the fort and some of its structural features is based on findings that were gained during the excavations between 1951 and 1972, partly also through observations during construction work. The southwestern part of the camp area was excavated by archaeologist Charles Green between 1951 and 1953. Green thought the fort was the remains of a Roman civil town. He also found evidence of the composition of the diet of its residents. The dig was later extended to Norwich Road, where traces of Saxon settlement activity inside and outside the Roman camp, along with some Saxon tombs, could be seen. The archaeological excavations between 1960 and 1962 were financed by the Ministry of Public Works. The area on Brooke Avenue and a new housing estate (approx. Ten hectares) north of Norwich Road were examined. In particular, the fortifications in the northwest of the camp were exposed. A total of six search trenches were dug during the investigation. Two trenches were dug in the south-east corner of the fort, two in the north-east corner, and two in the north-west corner. Most of the south-west corner was under Norwich Road. The remains of the wall were at a depth of 1.5 m. Remnants of the inner building, parts of the south gate and the south wall, the almost complete western section and the main camp road could be examined. It was not possible to uncover the entire fort area due to the modern development. In 1963 it was still believed that it was the remains of a town, although the construction of the walls was very similar to the castles of Brancaster and Reculver. The preserved remains of parts of the foundations of building 1, the south wall and the south gate are still visible today. In the northeast you can still see the cobblestone pavement of one of the main streets of the camp that runs out of the north gate.
Find spectrum
The ancient finds from Caister gave a good insight into the life and trade connections between the fort, its vicus and the rest of the Roman Empire. Some of the objects found, such as B. the coins, testify to a certain wealth of its inhabitants. They included u. a. seven smaller hoards of Roman coins from the middle of the 4th century as well as wickerwork with clay plastering from the buildings of the fort, ceramic shards, glass and fragments of pewter dishes. The pottery also contained remains of Terra Sigillata , an orange-red fine pottery from Gaul, and large storage and transport vessels (amphorae) for wine and olive oil exported from the Mediterranean region. The remains of personal jewelry such as B. Brooches, pearls, bracelets, necklaces, rings and hairpins suggest that women and children also lived in the fort at times. Presumably they were members of soldiers' families. Parts of equipment and weapons such as spearheads, arrowheads, fragments of a rider's helmet and belt buckles have been discovered on militaria. Remains of charred grain, fish bones, over 10,000 oyster shells, bones of cows, rabbits, foxes, badgers and ducks gave clues to the food palette of the people living here.
Development and function
120 years after their invasion, 55 AD, the Romans built the first fortification in Caister-on-See. It consisted of a wooden palisade with a trench in front of it. The defensive trenches were redeveloped under Septimius Severus , around 196-197. The ramparts probably protected a Roman city, possibly the city of Sitomagus listed on the Tabula Peutingeriana . Today it is no longer known where exactly it was, perhaps its remains have long been washed over by the sea. The fort appears to have been built around 200 AD and was occupied by the military until between 370 and 390. It was probably one of the first to be built on the Saxon coast. The fortress protected the estuaries and a small port town that was founded around the middle of the 2nd century. After 260 the Romans built another fort, Gariannonum, on the opposite side of the estuary at Burgh Castle . The two fortresses now jointly monitored shipping traffic in the bay and served as bases for military operations for coastal defense. From the 4th century onwards, their crews had to repel more and more Anglo-Saxons and Jutes from north-western Europe. They tried again and again to land unnoticed on the coast with their ships in order to plunder local settlements or to settle permanently in Britain. After the Romans had withdrawn, the Anglo-Saxons occupied the region and built a small settlement in the center of the camp. A little to the south, traces of a larger Anglo-Saxon burial ground could be made out. In 633 the fortress was handed over by King Sigebert to the Irish missionary Fursa , who - presumably - founded a monastery here, Cnobheresburg , which is said to have existed from the 7th to the 11th century AD.
Fort
Since the Caister camp probably had a mixed crew of infantrymen, cavalrymen and members of the navy, it was somewhat larger than the cohort forts common at the time. In its construction it is very similar to Branodunum Castle on the north Norfolk coast. It is essentially a slightly warped, square fort with rounded corners (playing card shape), designed in the style of the 2nd century. The fortification measured approx. 175 m × 175 m and covered an area of approx. 3.5 hectares. When it was built, it was probably built on with numerous buildings (commandant's house, barracks, barns, workshops, stores, stables) that were standard Middle Imperial fortifications belonged to. The Roman buildings that have been uncovered within the fortress so far have been severely damaged, especially by centuries of agricultural activity.
Enclosure
The fort was built on an Ice Age glacial moraine made of sand and clay. The foundations of the fort wall consisted of larger flint stones that were laid directly on the clay subsoil. The 2.9 m wide defensive wall, built from local flint and other stone material from the nearby coast, was reinforced by an inner earth ramp and thus made accessible over its entire length. It originally reached a height of four to five meters. It was probably broken on all four sides by a gate with two square flank towers attached to the inside. A small guardroom measuring 1.8 mx 1.6 m was located above the south gate, which had two passageways. The corners of the wall were reinforced by square towers. Traces of one of these corner towers - placed on the inside - could be observed in the SE corner.
Trench system
The camp was also surrounded by two pointed ditches at a distance of 2.7 m as an approach obstacle, the outer one of which was considerably widened and deepened in the early 4th century. Part of the inner 4.9 m – 5.5 m wide and 1.8 m deep trench is still visible today over a length of 41.5 m, the rest is built over by a modern road. Presumably it was also secured by a wooden palisade. Post holes on the south gate suggest that it was spanned with a wooden bridge. The outer, somewhat larger ditch, is separated from the inner ditch by a three meter wide berm . It was between ten and eleven meters wide.
Warehouse streets
The interior of the camp was probably divided by a straight road grid. However, only two of the camp roads could be archaeologically proven. The paved road to the north, starting from the southern gate along the main axis of the camp, was about ten meters wide and divided into two lanes by a channel. A section at the NE corner observed from east to west running road was about five meters wide and flanked by ditches.
Building 1
A one-story, approx. 45 m long and 8.5 m wide building, divided into six rooms of different sizes, was discovered on the south wall. Another wing of the building was connected to the north. Building 1, as it was named by the excavators, was built around 300 AD on the site of an earlier wooden building and probably initially served for representative purposes. In the course of time it changed its function several times (residential and farm buildings). Traces of ash indicated that the building was partially destroyed by fire in the late 4th century and was no longer repaired or rebuilt. The building was initially interpreted as a mansio for sailors and a brothel. Today, however, this view is considered outdated. The buildings almost certainly belonged to the functional buildings of the fort ( Praetorium ?). In its only short existence it had several functions one after the other, first as a comfortable house (the plaster of the interior walls was painted with elaborate patterns), as a workshop and as a butcher's shop. Its 0.69 m and 0.76 m wide foundations consisted of a narrow layer of flint. The 0.5 m wide walls were raised using truss technology and covered by a tiled roof. It was bordered to the north by a courtyard and to the north and a paved road to the south. On the south side there was more masonry, which was seen as the remains of a portico or retaining wall for the rampart. Room 2 of the west wing was equipped with a hypocaust heater. The hypocaust has a rather unusual structure. Essentially, it is a simple hose heater with two crossed channels in the middle of the room. Only at the edges did the floor stand on brick supports ( pilae ). Wheat grains were found on the clay floor. When the building was no longer used for residential purposes, it appears to have served as a granary. In one of the rooms there was also a stone fireplace. In the north wing, a six-meter-wide corridor was exposed, which led around a rectangular inner courtyard along its southern and eastern sides. In the inner courtyard, the remains of the older predecessor building made of wood and masonry, a 2.4 m water basin and a kiln for drying grain were discovered.
garrison
The fortress probably housed Marinde soldiers of the Classis Britannica and possibly a mixed troop of horsemen ( Equites stablesiani ) and infantrymen. Altogether between 500 and 1000 men. You should fend off looters and pirates. Since the fort is not listed in the Notitia Dignitatum and its ancient name has not been passed down in other written sources, its occupation units have remained unknown to date.
Harbor and vicus
A gravel road led from the south gate to a small harbor. To the west of the Roman port, the remains of a civil settlement, a so-called vicus , could be located.
Transport links
So far, no ancient streets have been found in the vicinity of the fort. Nevertheless, such must have existed to the capital of the region, Venta Icenorum (Caistor by Norwich) in the west, and to Branodunum (Brancaster) in the north-west. The connection to the neighboring fort Gariannum (Burgh Castle) was probably maintained primarily via the more convenient and faster sea route. The way to Venta Icenorum should have been about 31 km long overland. It led across the River Yare to the Norwich region. As already mentioned, the Yare itself was also used by the Romans as a supply and transport route. Because of its winding course, however, the journey was extended to approx. 46 km. The postulated road to Brampton should have been about 32 km long, the route on the River Bure 39 km.
Cult and religion
A statue of Mercury, the Roman messenger of the gods and protector of trade, could be found inside the fort. A bronze votive tablet, which was probably originally attached to a temple or the wall of a divine shrine, was recovered just outside the fortress. The inscription on it tells of a man named Aurelius Atticianus who had fulfilled his vow to Mercury.
Note
In the archaeological park of Caister on Sea, part of the moat, the remains of buildings and the south gate and its left gate tower can be visited. The site is now under the supervision of English Heritage .
literature
- Nick Fields: Rome's Saxon Shore Coastal Defenses of Roman Britain AD 250-500. (= Fortress. 56). Osprey Books, 2006, ISBN 1-84603-094-3 .
- David Gurney: The Saxon Shore in Norfolk. In: A. Margeson, B. Ayers, S. Heywood (Eds.): A Festival of Norfolk Archeology. Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society, Norwich 1996, ISBN 0-9528119-0-1 .
- David Gurney: Outposts of the Roman Empire. A guide to Norfolk's Roman forts at Burgh Castle, Caister-on-Sea and Brancaster. Norfolk Archaeological Trust, Norwich 2002.
- MJ Darling, David Gurney: Caister on Sea. Excavations by Charles Green, 1951-1955. East Anglian Archeology report, Vol. 58-60, 1993, ISBN 0-905594-07-X .
- Stephen Johnson: Burgh Castle, Excavations by Charles Green, 1958–1961. Norfolk Archaeological Unit, East Anglian Archeology report, Vol. 20, 1983, pp. 119-121.
- AD Mills: Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1998, ISBN 0-19-280074-4 .
Web links
- Historic England: Description of the fort
- Description of the fort with illustrations and reconstructions (English Heritage)
- Caister on Sea on Norfolk Heritage Explorer
- Caister-on-Sea on Castels | Forts | Battles