Vindobala (Brytonnic Celtic : windo- ''fair, white'', bala ''place, situation?'', cf. Old Irish bal, bail ''place, situation, condition, (good) luck'') 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'' ...

at the modern-day hamlet of Rudchester,

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

. It was the fourth fort 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 ...

, after

Segedunum Segedunum was a Roman fort at modern-day Wallsend, North Tyneside in North East England. The fort lay at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall (in Wallsend) near the banks of the River Tyne, forming the easternmost portion of the wall. It was in use ...

(

Wallsend Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This fo ...

Pons Aelius Pons Aelius (Latin for "Aelian Bridge"), or Newcastle Roman Fort, was an auxiliary castra and small Roman settlement on Hadrian's Wall in the Roman province of Britannia Inferior (northern England), situated on the north bank of the River Tyn ...

(Newcastle) and

Condercum Condercum was a Roman fort on the site of the modern-day Condercum Estate in Benwell, a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was the third fort on Hadrian's Wall, after Segedunum (Wallsend) and Pons Aelius (Newcastle), and was situated ...

(Benwell). It was situated about to the west of Condercum. The site of the fort is bisected by the B6318

Military Road {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The following is a list of military roads worldwide. Australia * Part of the A8 (Sydney) between Neutral Bay and Mosman * Military Road, part of Route 39, Melbourne * Military Road, off Wanneroo Road just north ...

, which runs along the route of the wall at that point.

Description

The fort guards the valley of the March Burn to the west, an ancient route leading to the south towards the Tyne ford at

Newburn Newburn is a semi rural parish, former electoral ward and former urban district in western Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. Situated on the North bank of the River Tyne, it is built rising up the valley from the river. It is situated ...

. To the east the ground drops away to the Rudchester Burn. The fort is oblong, measuring north to south by east to west, and covers about . There were four main gates with double portals and two smaller, single-portal gates. There was one main gate on the north wall of the fort, and the east and west main gates opened on the north side of the Roman Wall. This left a single main gate on the south wall of the fort, and two smaller gates which probably gave access to a military way running along the south side of the Wall. There were towers at each corner of the fort, and also on either side of the main gates. The

Vallum Vallum is either the whole or a portion of the fortifications of a Roman camp. The vallum usually comprised an earthen or turf rampart (Agger) with a wooden palisade on top, with a deep outer ditch (fossa). The name is derived from '' vallus'' (a ...

passed about south of the fort, and 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 ...

south and south west of the fort. South of the fort, on the brow of a hill, is a

cistern A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...

, twelve feet long, four and a half feet broad and two feet deep. It was popularly known as the “Giant’s Grave”. Now there is little to be seen on the surface, apart from mounds to the south of the Military Road marking the west and south ramparts. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries stones were systematically removed from the site for local agricultural buildings, and also for the building of the Military Road.

Garrison

The fort was garrisoned in the fourth century by the First Cohort of

Frisiavones The Frisiavones (also Frisaevones or Frisaebones) were a Germanic people living near the northern border of Gallia Belgica during the early first millennium AD. Little is known about them, but they appear to have resided in the area of what is toda ...

. These were troops recruited from a coastal tribe of

Lower Germany Germania Inferior ("Lower Germania") was a Roman province from AD 85 until the province was renamed Germania Secunda in the fourth century, on the west bank of the Rhine bordering the North Sea. The capital of the province was Colonia Agrippin ...

. It is thought that the fort was built for a cohort, 500 strong and part-mounted.

Excavations

In 1760 a life-size statue of Hercules was found at the site, which is now in the

Great North Museum The Great North Museum: Hancock is a museum of natural history and ancient civilisations in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The museum was established in 1884 and was formerly known as the Hancock Museum. In 2006 it merged with Newcastle Unive ...

in nearby

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. Excavations of the site were carried out in 1924 and 1962. Two of the main gateways were excavated, as well as a large

granary A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animal ...

and part of the headquarters. In addition, a

hypocaust A hypocaust ( la, hypocaustum) is a system of central heating in a building that produces and circulates hot air below the floor of a room, and may also warm the walls with a series of pipes through which the hot air passes. This air can warm th ...

belonging to the commandant's house was discovered.

Mithraeum

In 1844, five altars, dedicated to

Mithras Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, was a Roman mystery religion centered on the god Mithras. Although inspired by Iranian worship of the Zoroastrian divinity (''yazata'') Mithra, the Roman Mithras is linke ...

, were discovered near the site, now known as the

Rudchester Mithraeum Rudchester Mithraeum is a Roman temple to the Roman god Mithras at Rudchester ( Vindobala), an auxiliary fort on Hadrian's Wall, the northern frontier of Roman Britain. The temple (known as a mithraeum) was located 137m to the west of the castr ...

. It is believed that these come from a temple to Mithras, situated to the south east of the fort. It appears that this was built in the third century and was deliberately destroyed in the fourth century. The building was long and wide with a

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...

, or vestibule, attached to the front.

Curtain Wall

In 1924, an excavation took place on the wall line 1924 at a point west of the fort. The north face was erected on a foundation course of coarse white stones. The first course was topped by an elaborately moulded plinth (unknown elsewhere). It has been speculated that this was the location of a special inscription stone marking work on the wall.

References

* J. Collingwood Bruce, Roman Wall (1863), Harold Hill & Son, * Frank Graham, The Roman Wall, Comprehensive History and Guide (1979), Frank Graham, * http://www.roman-britain.co.uk/places/vindobala/ * http://www.hadrians-wall.info/hadrianswall/vindobala/vindobala.htm

External links

VINDOBALA FORT on the line of Hadrian's Wall as it exists today
{{Hadrian's Wall forts Roman fortifications in England Roman sites in Northumberland Forts of Hadrian's Wall Former populated places in Northumberland