Castle Hill small fort

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Castle Hill (Boothby)
limes Britain
section Stanegate
Dating (occupancy) Trajanic,
1st - 2nd century AD
Type Street fort
unit unknown
size 75 × 52 meters
(0.4 ha)
Construction Wood earth
State of preservation Not visible above ground
place Brampton (Cumbria)
Geographical location 54 ° 57 '28.8 "  N , 2 ° 42' 43.2"  W Coordinates: 54 ° 57 '28.8 "  N , 2 ° 42' 43.2"  W. hf
Previous Nether Denton Fort (east)
Subsequently Old Church Fort (west)
Upstream Camboglanna Castle
(Hadrian's Wall) (north)
Course of the Stanegate and Hadrian's Wall with locations of the forts
Coin portrait of Trajan
Location sketch of the small fort

The fortlet Castle Hill was a Roman fort in northern Britain . It is located in the Carlisle district , in the area of ​​the city of Brampton , Boothby in County Cumbria , England . It dates from the late first or early second century AD and was part of the Stanegate boundary .

location

The city of Brampton is eight miles from Carlisle . The archaeological site is 650 meters west of Boothby Manor House and approximately 600 meters northeast of the hamlet of Great Easby. The small fort stood on a conveniently located hill, Castle Hill, which afforded a good view of the River Irthing in the north and the Stanegate in the south. To the east there was also visual contact with the neighboring Nether Denton Fort . The Stanegate ran past the fort about 700 meters southeast. Coming from the southeast, it crossed a small stream, the Quarry Beck, and then turned abruptly to the southwest. Castle Hill was in a location that was particularly suitable for road surveillance. From there, his crew also checked the point at which a well passable corridor opened to the valley of the Irthing. In the 2nd century the region belonged to the province of Britannia inferior , from the 4th century to the province of Britannia secunda .

Road connections existed via the Stanegate,

Research history

In addition to the archaeological excavation in the first half of the 20th century, the existence of the fort could also be confirmed by aerial photographs showing the fortified trenches on the south and east sides of the camp. The fort was partially examined in 1933 by the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society under the direction of Frank Gerald Simpson. In 1934 his report appeared in the Society Transactions. The dating of the fort made it possible to find fragments of South Gallic and Sami ceramics from the late 1st and early 2nd centuries. Despite the loss of the north wall caused by the Irthing slope , the remaining underground remains of the small fort survived the centuries reasonably well. Above all, its area was not affected by agriculture and modern development. One of the aerial photographs taken from 1947 to 1949 revealed structures that were also confirmed by Simpson's limited excavation. Future excavations will provide further archaeological evidence of the function of the fort and its occupation.

development

The Stanegate was first created as a supply route under the Roman governor Gnaeus Iulius Agricola or one of his successors. In order to protect the troop movements and supplies, forts were built at fixed intervals (one day's march). The next step was the conversion into a Limes , for this the construction of further fortifications was necessary , which also closed the gaps of 3.5 km between the already existing camps . Boothby's was arguably one of those new military bases that were built in the early 2nd century to monitor traffic on Stanegate. The Stanegate border thus advanced to become the first solid Roman defense system in northern Britain - reaching from coast to coast - which ran across the Tyne - Solway Firth line . Possibly this was implemented under the rule of Trajan . The well-developed road connected the two large military centers Coriosopitum (Corbridge) in the east and Luguvalium (Carlisle) in the west, both of which were also on important north-south routes. The border security system probably extended beyond Carlisle to the Cumbrian coast. The construction of the fortresses along the road made it possible to station a large number of troops and thus ensured that this always restless and dangerous region could be monitored almost completely - as long as enough soldiers were available. A number of watchtowers and signal towers were also built. The function of Stanegatestrasse and its forts only changed with the construction of Hadrian's Wall in 122 AD. Although its logistical function was strengthened when the new border line was established, it lost its importance in terms of border security. How long the fort on Castle Hill was occupied by Roman soldiers is unknown. It may have been abandoned shortly after the completion of Hadrian's Wall (122 AD), just like some of the others in the Stanegate fort.

Fort

The fort was oriented from NE to SW and had a rectangular floor plan with rounded corners, which is typical for camps from the Middle Ages. It measured approx. 75 × 52 meters and enclosed an area of ​​0.4 hectares. According to Frank Simpson, it was similar to the small fort at Throp. Only the southern and eastern defensive walls, which consisted of tamped clay, can be seen in aerial photos; the northern wall was completely destroyed by erosion over the centuries. The camp was also surrounded by a moat that was 5.2 meters wide and 1.8 meters deep. In the middle of the southern moat there was an earth dam, probably the transition to the south gate, which can also be seen in the aerial photographs. Presumably there was also a gate to the north, exactly opposite. Until 1971 a deepening, the trench section at the SE corner, was still visible on the surface. Only a few pits could be observed inside the fort, nothing is known about its development.

garrison

The fort offered space for a garrison of one centurion (approx. 100 men) of infantry . At the beginning of the second century one began increasingly to split the generally 500-strong auxiliary troops cohorts of Britain into smaller units and relocate them to several bases. The camp in which the commanding officer's quarters were located was also the headquarters of the troops. The small border fortifications were mostly manned by number units . Which unit was stationed at Castle Hill is unknown due to a lack of related finds or written sources.

literature

  • Frank Gerald Simpson: Boothby, Castle Hill. Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society, New Series, in Rept. of the Cumberland Excavation Committee 1933, Vol. XXXIV, 1934.
  • John Kenneth Sinclair St. Joseph: Air Reconnaissance of North Britain, The Journal of Roman Studies, No. XLI, 1951.
  • Barri Jones, David J. Woolliscroft: Hadrian's Wall from the air. Stroud / Tempus Publ., 2001. ISBN 0-7524-1946-3
  • David Breeze, Brian Dobson: Hadrian's Wall. 3rd edition, 1987.
  • Rose Mary Sheldon: Intelligence Activities in Ancient Rome: Trust in the Gods but Verify. Routledge 2004.
  • Matthew Symonds: Protecting the Roman Empire: Fortlets, Frontiers, and the Quest for Post-Conquest Security. Cambridge University Press 2018.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Simpson 1934, pp. 154–155, Symonds 2018, p. 100.
  2. ↑ Simpson 1933, pp. 154–155, St. Joseph 1951, p. 55.
  3. ↑ Breeze / Dobson 1987, pp. 19-22, Sheldon 2004, p. 208.
  4. ↑ Simpson 1933, pp. 154-155.

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