Othona Castle
| Bradwell on Sea Fort | |
|---|---|
| Alternative name |
a) Othona , b) Othonae |
| limes | Britain |
| section | Litus saxonicum |
| Dating (occupancy) | 3rd to 5th century AD |
| Type |
a) Limitaneikastell b) Fleet station? |
| unit |
a) Numerus Fortensium , b) Classis Britannica ? |
| size | approx. 2 ha |
| Construction | Stone construction |
| State of preservation | Square complex with rounded corners, not visible above ground or overgrown by vegetation, east side completely washed away |
| place | Bradwell on Sea |
| Geographical location | 51 ° 44 ′ 7 ″ N , 0 ° 56 ′ 24 ″ E |
| Previous | Walton Castle north |
| Subsequently | Regulbium fort south |
Othona belonged to the chain of fortresses on the English section of the Saxon coast , an important part of the late antique Limes Britannicus . Major excavation campaigns in the area of the Roman fort took place in the late 19th century and in the middle of the 20th century.
Location and function
The former fort is located in County (County) Essex in the district of Maldon in the area of the parish Bradwell-on-Sea , about 9 km northeast of Southminster and 30 km east of Chelmsford (the Roman Caesaromagus ) on the Dengie Peninsula. Its location on the edge of the peninsula was ideal for controlling the mouth of the Blackwater into the English Channel . The fortress was strategically placed very favorably, since from there attacks by pirates and looters could be nipped in the bud. Perhaps the fort also served as a port and supply base for the Roman canal fleet .
Surname
The meaning of the name Othona is unclear. Some attribute it to Emperor Otho , but since the British Saxon coastal forts were all built towards the end of the 3rd century AD, this is extremely unlikely. In the Notitia Dignitatum the base is referred to as Othonae . Unfortunately, no inscriptions or other written sources are known that could give clues about the history of this fort. After the Romans left, the Anglo-Saxons called the place Ythancester , the name probably derived directly from the ancient name of the fort.
Research history
The remains of the fort were discovered by Oxley Parker in 1864. Parker also dug search trenches inside the fort, but could not find any traces of ancient structures there. Further results of his excavations are unknown. In 1947 Brinson started a search trench on the western wall. During an inspection of the fort and its immediate surroundings, it was ascertained how far the destruction had progressed and what archaeological potential the site still had for future investigations. Subsequent geophysical investigations showed that the damage to the foundations was not as serious as feared. Further geophysical investigations and excavations are planned for the future.
The finds from the fort consisted primarily of fibulae from the 1st century, bracelets, Roman and Anglo-Saxon iron objects, a fragment of a stamped hollow brick, a gold ring with an onyx - Cameo and coins that the construction of the fort during the reign of Carausius as likely to appear. Some of the stone material of the fort wall was also found in the Uferschlick, together with Roman ceramics, terra sigillata , so-called Nene Valley ware and fragments of roof tiles.
A total of over 200 coins from Gallienus to Arcadius were recovered, many also date from the Constantinian period , but most from the reign of Carausius . The majority of the pottery also comes from this period, a few are likely to have been made in the 2nd century AD, including a robe clasp that was found in the fort area. Most of the finds from the fort are kept in the Colchester Museum.
development
In his chronicle from the second half of the 4th century AD, Eutrop reports that around 285 AD the naval admiral Carausius was commissioned to pacify the English Channel from Portus Itius ( Boulogne ), which was made unsafe by pirates which Eutropus referred to as "Franconia" and "Saxony". The raids on the British and Gallic coasts mentioned here increasingly hampered civilian sea traffic and, above all, the transfer of British merchandise and precious metals to Gaul and Rome . Due to the steadily increasing number of attacks, Carausius, later the founder and ruler ( usurper ) of the so-called “Britannian Sonderreich”, reorganized the defense of the British Channel coast around the year 287. Together with his successor Allectus , he gradually created a dense chain of fortifications, some of which were very strongly fortified, in which Othona was also included by building new or reconstructing existing structures . Another reason for the expansion of the fortification line on the English Channel was certainly also the fear of an invasion of the Roman central government.
When the Roman army under Flavius Stilicho in 398 became militarily active again on a larger scale in Britain, the Roman administration set up a separate military district on both sides of the canal, the litus Saxonicum ( Saxon coast ), whose troops in Britain came from a Comes litoris Saxonici per Britanniam were commanded. It was around this time that he was included in the troop lists of the Notitia Dignitatum for the first time . The widely ramified river system of Britain enabled the Germanic invaders to advance quickly into the interior of the island in their small, shallow rowing boats. The fortifications were certainly also closely connected to the Roman military camps in the Gallic part of the litus Saxonicum .
After the Romans withdrew, Cedd , missionary and bishop of the Eastern Saxons, founded a monastery on the former fort area in 653 , of which the chapel of St. Peter-on-the-Wall can still be seen today. Large amounts of bricks and limestone still come from the fort and can be found everywhere in its ashlar masonry. It was from this monastery that Essex was Christianized. There is some evidence that a storm surge in November 1099 destroyed much of the fort. The ramparts on the west side stood until the 17th century and were described by Philemon Holland in the edition of William Camden's Britain as a huge ruin .
Fort
Only a few remains of the fort can be made out today, only the early medieval St. Peter's Chapel, which stands on the foundations of the west gate, marks the archaeological site. About two meters of the south wall have survived under a small group of trees and brambles. Since most of the land around the chapel is used intensively for agriculture, the destruction of the last remains of the fort continues.
The construction of the camp is typical of the late 3rd century AD, it was probably built during or shortly before the usurpation of Carausius . The coin and pottery finds found on site date to the period from 280 to 468 AD. The spectrum of coins extends from the reign of Gallienus to that of Honorius , but most of them bear the portrait of Carausius. The castles at Dover , Lymphe and Burgh Castle were also built during this period . Robin George Collingwood described the fort in the 1930s as follows:
“ The bank fortifications have completely disappeared; the Siegfried Line is 522 feet long, the north and south probably 290 and 150 feet, respectively, both ending abruptly at the river bank. The fort area, originally a little larger, now covers about 4 acres, how big it was originally can no longer be determined. The walls were 12 feet thick at the base and remain over 4 feet high. On the outside there are triple brick bands . The corners of the fort are obviously rounded, but the oval intermediate towers are likely to have been built at the same time as the wall. There was a gate on the west side, and the remains of a moat are still visible. "
The later excavations confirmed the trapezoidal layout of the defensive system, which can still be seen in the north, south and west. Presumably the fort actually still had the classic, rounded corners (playing card shape) - as in Garrianonum . The east side was completely eroded by the tides, only a few remains of masonry are still visible. The foundation walls that have been preserved to this day encompass an area of almost two hectares, but the fort must have been a lot larger. The defensive wall was for the most part built from stone material extracted on site and provided with three-part brick bands. The walls were supported by an inner earth ramp. A search cut in the south wall showed a thickness of approximately 4.2 m. The somewhat wider foundations were very solidly bricked and consisted of tightly packed, mortared rubble and field stones. Subsequently, the remains of some towers protruding from the wall in the shape of a horseshoe could be observed: one in the northwest corner, the second between the former and St. Peter's Chapel and a third in the southwest corner. Furthermore, the remains of an inner earth ramp and traces of a circumferential pointed trench, in whose backfill u. a. Pottery discovered from the Anglo-Saxon period was noted. The moat is best seen in the west. The crew barracks are presumed to be in the north-western sector of the camp area.
garrison
According to the Notitia Dignitatum , a unit of the Limitanei , the Numeri Fortensium (the brave) stood in Othonae under the command of the Comes litoris Saxonici per Britanniam (translated: "Count of the Saxon coast in Britain") as a garrison force. The fortress commander was an officer with the rank of Praepositus . Whether units of the canal fleet ( Classis Britannica ) were permanently stationed in the port of the fort is not known, but due to the location of the fort it is very likely.
Road links
Access to the fort from the mainland was via a road on the east side of the fort, which has now completely disappeared into the sea. There is also evidence that a Roman road from Othona to the banks of the Crouch near Battlesbridge merged with another road that led to a larger Roman settlement on Foulness Island. You then followed the course of the Crouch and met at Brentwood on a trunk road running north to south.
literature
- Robin George Collingwood : The Archeology of Roman Britain . Methuen Publishing House, London 1930,
- Nic Fields: Rome's Saxon Shore Coastal Defenses of Roman Britain AD 250-500 . Osprey Books, Oxford 2006, ISBN 978-1-84603-094-9 ( Fortress . 56).
- Stephen Johnson: The Roman forts of the Saxon Shore . London 1976, ISBN 023640024X .
- David E. Johnston: The Saxon Shore . The Council for British Archeology, London 1977 ( Research Report No. 18). pdf
Web links
- Fort Othona at roman-britain.org
- Aerial view of the fort area
- Bradwell-juxta-Mare on BRITISH HISTORY ONLINE (English)
- Surname