Vindomora was an auxiliary
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
Dere Street
Dere Street or Deere Street is a modern designation of a Roman road which ran north from Eboracum (York), crossing the Stanegate at Corbridge (Hadrian's Wall was crossed at the Portgate, just to the north) and continuing beyond into what is n ...
, in the
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of
Lower Britain
Britannia Inferior (Latin for "Lower Britain") was a new province carved out of Roman Britain probably around AD 197 during the reforms of Septimius Severus although the division may have occurred later, between 211 and 220, under Caracall ...
(''Britannia Inferior''). Its ruins, now known as Ebchester Roman Fort, are situated at
Ebchester
Ebchester is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated to the north of Consett and to the south east of Whittonstall.
The village sits at the intersection of the A694, which runs from Consett to Swalwell, and the B6309, which connects ...
() in the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
county of
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
*Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...
, to the north of
Consett
Consett is a town in County Durham, England, about south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 27,394 in 2001 and an estimate of 25,812 in 2019.
History
Consett sits high on the edge of the Pennines. Its' name originates in the ...
and west-south-west from
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 ...
.
History
Vindomora is situated in between the forts of
Corstopitum
Coria was a fort and town south of Hadrian's Wall, in the Roman province of Britannia at a point where a big Roman north–south road (Dere Street) bridged the River Tyne and met another Roman road (Stanegate), which ran east–west between C ...
(
Corbridge
Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe.
Etymology
Corbridge was known to the Romans as something like ''Corstopitum'' or ''Coriosopit ...
) and Bywell to the north/west north, and
Longovicium
Longovicium (or Lanchester Roman Fort) was an auxiliary fort located on Roman Dere Street, in the Roman province of Britannia Inferior. It is located just southwest of Lanchester () in the English county of Durham, roughly to the west of the ...
(
Lanchester) to the south. It is located on
Dere Street
Dere Street or Deere Street is a modern designation of a Roman road which ran north from Eboracum (York), crossing the Stanegate at Corbridge (Hadrian's Wall was crossed at the Portgate, just to the north) and continuing beyond into what is n ...
, the main Roman road linking
Eboracum
Eboracum () was a fort and later a city in the Roman province of Britannia. In its prime it was the largest town in northern Britain and a provincial capital. The site remained occupied after the decline of the Western Roman Empire and ultimate ...
(
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
) with
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 ...
and its surrounding areas. Its position also protected the river
Derwent. It is about south of
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 ...
, and was built at the foot of a long descent, sloping towards the north, scattered along the edge of a still deeper declivity, which overhangs the green low-lying meadow of the river valley of the Derwent.
The name Vindomora has been mistakenly understood to signify in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
"The edge of the Black Moor", perhaps due to the resemblance of "-mora" to the Latin ''maura'' (black/dark), or ''End of the Hill''; however, the name is clearly British, with the first part being the ''windo-'' (vindo-) "fair/white" found wherever Celts lived, with perhaps a variant of māra "great, big", also pan-Celtic. When the
Romans had departed from the land, it received the name it now bears which is identical with "Upchester", and signifies "The Camp on the Height. The main road through Ebchester is appropriately named Vindomora road."
The fort is only mentioned in the
Antonine Itinerary
The Antonine Itinerary ( la, Itinerarium Antonini Augusti, "The Itinerary of the Emperor Antoninus") is a famous ''itinerarium'', a register of the stations and distances along various roads. Seemingly based on official documents, possibly ...
.
Little remains to be seen of the fort as the town of
Ebchester
Ebchester is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated to the north of Consett and to the south east of Whittonstall.
The village sits at the intersection of the A694, which runs from Consett to Swalwell, and the B6309, which connects ...
was built directly on top of the fort, unlike the successors of many other Roman towns, which are generally situated at a little distance from the ancient sites. In Ebchester Roman ramparts, altars and remains of all kinds are mingled in singular confusion with the gardens, cottages, roads and St. Ebba's Church. Immediately after the Roman departure, the area was reoccupied by woodland.
[EBCHESTER ROMAN FORT , Investigation History](_blank)
/ref> Parts of the rampart are still visible near the post office, and some excavated ruins. Despite more recent construction on the site, a few legionary building stones and small altars have been recovered, enabling archaeologists to identify which units garrisoned the fort.
It is postulated there might be a road from Vindomora to Washing Wells Roman Fort
Washing Wells Roman Fort, was a fort in the Roman province of Britannia. Its ruins are located at () southeast of Whickham in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the m ...
(Whickham
Whickham is a village in Tyne and Wear, North East England. It is in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. The village is on high ground overlooking the River Tyne and south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It was formerly governed under the histo ...
, Tyne and Wear), but this remains to be discovered. Also, recent discoveries at Bywell
Bywell is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England. It is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne opposite Stocksfield, between Hexham and Newcastle. The parish has a population of around 380 and Newton is now its most populou ...
by Raymond Selkirk seem to suggest that Dere Street
Dere Street or Deere Street is a modern designation of a Roman road which ran north from Eboracum (York), crossing the Stanegate at Corbridge (Hadrian's Wall was crossed at the Portgate, just to the north) and continuing beyond into what is n ...
carried on to Bywell, and not to Corstopitum
Coria was a fort and town south of Hadrian's Wall, in the Roman province of Britannia at a point where a big Roman north–south road (Dere Street) bridged the River Tyne and met another Roman road (Stanegate), which ran east–west between C ...
(Corbridge
Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe.
Etymology
Corbridge was known to the Romans as something like ''Corstopitum'' or ''Coriosopit ...
) as previously thought. Another road left to Whittonstall to the north-west and then possibly either to Corbridge (the path previously assumed to be Dere Street) or Hexham
Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden, Northumberland, Warden nearby, and ...
(which possibly contained a fort). Other finds at Cong Burn near Concangis
Concangis was an auxiliary castra in the Roman province of Lower Britain (''Britannia Inferior''). Its ruins are located in Chester-le-Street, Durham, in England, and are now known as Chester-le-Street Roman Fort. It is situated north of Durha ...
(Chester-le-Street
Chester-le-Street (), also known as Chester, is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England, around north of Durham and also close to Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located on the River Wear, which runs out to sea at Sun ...
) to the east suggest these two forts were also linked by a road and bridge over the Cong Burn.
Gods worshipped included a typical mixture found at Auxiliary forts of classical Roman and Germanic/Celt Gods. Two altars name the ancient Germanic ancestor-god Vitiris, and one altar to a ''genius loci
In classical Roman religion, a ''genius loci'' (plural ''genii locorum'') was the protective spirit of a place. It was often depicted in religious iconography as a figure holding attributes such as a cornucopia, patera (libation bowl) or snake. ...
'', a sort of presiding spirit in the local area.[Reed, A.H. and Maxfield, V. 1973. 'Vindomara, Roman Fort' Council for British Archaeology Group 3 Bulletin 4, 6-8] Roman war deities Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
and Minerva
Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the Roma ...
were also worshipped. A Vernostonus Cocidius was apparently a conflation of two Germanic war Gods.
Garrison
Legionary stones recovered identify a Fifth Cohort as building the fort, but unfortunately give no clue as to the parent legion. This however cannot be taken as evidence of occupation because all Roman auxiliary forts were actually built by the highly trained legionaries, and not entrusted to the peregrine auxiliary soldiers who were to garrison the completed camp. The stones also identify the names of Centurions responsible for the construction work, and later restoration work done by auxiliary regiments at the time of the Scottish campaigns by emperor Severus Severus is the name of various historical and fictional figures, including:
;Emperors of the Roman empire
*Septimius Severus (145–211), Roman emperor from 193 to 211 (rarely known as ''Severus I.'')
*Severus Caracalla (188–217), Roman emperor f ...
.
The first unit proven to garrison Ebchester
Ebchester is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated to the north of Consett and to the south east of Whittonstall.
The village sits at the intersection of the A694, which runs from Consett to Swalwell, and the B6309, which connects ...
is the Cohors Quartae Breucorum Antoninianae (The Fourth Cohort of the Breuci: Antonine's Own), identified from an early 3rd century altar. They were a nominally 500-strong infantry regiment, although usually the number was around 460 or lower. This Auxilia
The (, lit. "auxiliaries") were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 30 BC. By the 2nd century, the Auxilia contained the same number of inf ...
unit was originally levied from amongst the Breuci tribe of Pannonia Inferior, natives of the Bosna valley in northeastern Bosnia-Herzegovina. This unit was also possibly present at Lavatris
Bowes Castle is a medieval castle in the village of Bowes in County Durham, England. Built within the perimeter of the former Roman fort of Lavatrae, on the Roman road that is now the A66, the early timber castle on the site was replaced by a ...
(Bowes
Bowes is a village in County Durham, England. Located in the Pennine hills, it is situated close to Barnard Castle. It is built around the medieval Bowes Castle.
Geography and administration Civic history
Bowes lies within the historic count ...
, Durham), but the inscription is too damaged to read accurately.
See also
*Roman engineering
The ancient Romans were famous for their advanced engineering accomplishments. Technology for bringing running water into cities was developed in the east, but transformed by the Romans into a technology inconceivable in Greece. The architecture ...
*Roman military engineering
The military engineering of Ancient Rome's armed forces was of a scale and frequency far beyond that of any of its contemporaries. Indeed, military engineering was in many ways institutionally endemic in Roman military culture, as demonstrated by ...
*Dere Street
Dere Street or Deere Street is a modern designation of a Roman road which ran north from Eboracum (York), crossing the Stanegate at Corbridge (Hadrian's Wall was crossed at the Portgate, just to the north) and continuing beyond into what is n ...
*Roman sites in the United Kingdom
There are many Roman sites in Great Britain that are open to the public. There are also many sites that do not require special access, including Roman roads, and sites that have not been uncovered.
England
*Hadrian's Wall, Northumberland and Cumb ...
*Castra
In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term.
In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular and ...
References
External links
Details of fort
Keys to the past
Excavation History
Further reading
*Reed, Harper & Dodds, 1964. ' Excavations at Echester in 1962-3' Archaeologia Aeliana (4th Series) 32, 173-185
*Reed, A.H. and Maxfield, V. 1973. 'Vindomara, Roman Fort' Council for British Archaeology Group 3 Bulletin 4, 6-8
*Reed, A.H. Vindomora; The Roman Fort At Ebchester Village (Ebchester)
{{Hadrian's Wall forts
Roman fortifications in England
Roman sites in County Durham
Tourist attractions in County Durham
Scheduled monuments in County Durham
Roman auxiliary forts in England
Ebchester