Aballava or Aballaba (with the modern name of
Burgh by Sands
Burgh by Sands () is a village and civil parish in the City of Carlisle district of Cumbria, England, situated near the Solway Firth. The parish includes the village of Burgh by Sands along with Longburgh, Dykesfield, Boustead Hill, Moorhous ...
) was a
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
fort
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
on
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. R ...
, between
Petriana (
Stanwix) to the east and
Coggabata
Coggabata, or Congavata / Concavata, (with the modern name of Drumburgh) was a Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall, between Aballava (Burgh by Sands) to the east and Mais ( Bowness-on-Solway) to the west. It was built on a hill commanding views over t ...
(
Drumburgh
Drumburgh ( ) is a small settlement in Cumbria, England. It is northwest of the city of Carlisle and is on the course of Hadrian's Wall, near to Burgh by Sands. The village is sited on a gentle hill with a good view in all directions over the ...
) to the west. It is about one and a half miles south of the
Solway Firth
The Solway Firth ( gd, Tràchd Romhra) is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven ...
, and its purpose was to guard the south end of two important Solway fords, the Peat Wath and the Sandwath, which were also to become favourite routes for medieval border raiders.
The fort is five and a half miles west of Stanwix. The word 'Aballava' possibly means '(apple) orchard'.
The fort was an oblong, straddling the Wall, and measured north to south by east to west, occupying an area of . Only the location of the eastern wall is known for certain. It is believed that it was built over the site of turret 71b. There is a fortified border church on the site built almost entirely of Roman stones, and it is believed that this stands on the site of the
principia of the fort.
There was a
vicus
In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus r ...
to the south-west of the fort, and it is believed that a cemetery existed to the south of the fort.
Garrison
The second-century garrison was the
Ala I Tungrorum Ala, ALA, Alaa or Alae may refer to:
Places
* Ala, Hiiu County, Estonia, a village
* Ala, Valga County, Estonia, a village
* Ala, Alappuzha, Kerala, India, a village
* Ala, Iran, a village in Semnan Province
* Ala, Gotland, Sweden
* Alad, Seydun ...
followed by a part mounted cavalry regiment,
Cohors I Nerviorum. The third-century garrison was a mounted detachment (cuneus) of
Frisians. The
epigraphic evidence for the location of this unit is attested by two sandstone altars found in the 19th century at
Cockermouth
Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England, so named because it is at the confluence of the River Cocker as it flows into the River Derwent. The mid-2010 census estimates state that Cocke ...
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...
These most probably came originally from the nearby Roman fort at
Papcastle
Papcastle is a village and civil parish in the borough of Allerdale in the English county of Cumbria. The village is now effectively a northern extension of Cockermouth, which lies to the south of the River Derwent. It has its own parish counc ...
(
Derventio). Some confusion had previously arisen among Romano-British historians concerning the precise location of Aballava and its identification with
Papcastle
Papcastle is a village and civil parish in the borough of Allerdale in the English county of Cumbria. The village is now effectively a northern extension of Cockermouth, which lies to the south of the River Derwent. It has its own parish counc ...
. It has now been recognized that the Roman fort at
Burgh by Sands
Burgh by Sands () is a village and civil parish in the City of Carlisle district of Cumbria, England, situated near the Solway Firth. The parish includes the village of Burgh by Sands along with Longburgh, Dykesfield, Boustead Hill, Moorhous ...
is the correct location. The unit, (Cuneus Frisiorum) apparently remained there long enough to acquire the title, 'Aballavensium'. In the mid third century an infantry detachment (
numerus) of Aurelian
Moors
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or ...
(Morocco) is also attested.
Excavations
Excavations were carried out in 1922, during which it was established that the fort straddled the Wall.
Two other forts were found on the same site, by aerial photography, in 1976 and 1977. The second fort, discovered in 1976, and excavated 13 years earlier, is thought to pre-date Hadrian's Wall. It has been claimed that this fort was an extension to the
Stanegate
The Stanegate (meaning "stone road" in Northumbrian dialect) was an important Roman road built in what is now northern England. It linked many forts including two that guarded important river crossings: Corstopitum (Corbridge) on the River Tyn ...
system of forts, but this is largely conjecture.
A small-scale excavation 200 metres south of the fort undertaken by
Headland Archaeology[Masser, P. and J. Evans, ‘Excavations within the vicus at Amberfield, Burgh by Sands, Cumbria’, ''Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society''] uncovered a group of features associated with the
vicus
In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus r ...
. Features included post-pits for a substantial building, postholes and beamslots relating to other timber buildings and shallow ditches and gullies; all dated to the mid-2nd century. There was no evidence for the later 2nd and 3rd century occupation identified during the previous investigations, suggesting some discontinuity in the use of the site.
In fiction
*
Gillian Bradshaw, ''Dark North'' (2007) Set in Roman Britain, 208 CE, it looks at the troubled reign of Emperor Septimius Severus — and his attempt to conquer Scotland — through the eyes of Memnon, an Ethiopian cavalry scout with the ''numerus'' of Aurelian Moors based at the Wall fort of Aballava.
References
Further reading
* J. Collingwood Bruce, Handbook to The Roman Wall, 13th Edition, Edited and Enlarged by Charles M. Daniels, Harold Hill & Son Newcastle upon Tyne 1978 pp. 247–248
* & 14th Edition Revised by David J. Breeze, Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne 2006 q.v.
* Frank Graham, The Roman Wall, Comprehensive History and Guide (1979), Frank Graham,
* R.G. Collingwood and R.P. Wright The Roman Inscriptions of Britain (RIB) I Inscriptions On Stone, Oxford University Press 1965
* A.L.F. Rivet and Colin Smith, The Place-Names of Roman Britain, B.T. Batsford Ltd. London 1979
External links
''Aballava'' at www.Roman-Britain.co.ukIromans a Tullie House Museum websiteShowing a selection of objects from Aballava
{{Authority control
Forts of Hadrian's Wall
Roman fortifications in England
Former populated places in Cumbria
Roman sites in Cumbria
Burgh by Sands