Gariannonum, or Gariannum, was a Roman Saxon Shore fort in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The '' Notitia Dignitatum'', a Roman Army "order of battle" from about AD 400, lists nine forts of the Saxon Shore in south and east England, among which one was called Gariannonor. It has been much discussed over the years in terms of spelling (''Gariannonum'', ''Garianonum'', ''Gariannum''), purpose (whether it really was intended for defence against Saxon raids), and location (whether it was

Burgh Castle Burgh Castle is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the east bank of the River Waveney, some west of Great Yarmouth and within the Norfolk Broads National Park. The parish was part of Suffolk until ...

or the Caister-on-Sea site). The fort is listed as being commanded by the ''Praepositus equitum stablesianorum'', implying its garrison was a cavalry of a form originated in the late 3rd century, the Equites Stablesiani. Both proposed sites show archaeological evidence for military occupation beginning at around the time this type of unit began use. The name ''Gariannonum'' is thought to derive from a river-name, ''Gariennus'', mentioned in

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...

's ''

Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

''. This is thought to derive in turn from a Celtic root meaning "babbling river", which may refer to the

River Yare The River Yare is a river in the English county of Norfolk. In its lower reaches it is one of the principal navigable waterways of The Broads and connects with the rest of the network. The river rises south of Dereham to the west to the vil ...

, although much uncertainty remains.

Identification

The situation of ''Gariannonum'' has usually been identified as either Burgh Castle, which lies on the

River Waveney The River Waveney is a river which forms the boundary between Suffolk and Norfolk, England, for much of its length within The Broads. The "ey" part of the name means "river" thus the name is tautological. Course The source of the River Wavene ...

just before its confluence with the

, or the Roman fort at Caister-on-Sea, away at the mouth of the

River Bure The River Bure is a river in the county of Norfolk, England, most of it in the Broads.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS Explorer Map OL40 - The Broads''. . The Bure rises near Melton Constable, upstream of Aylsham, which was the original head of ...

. In Roman times, both sites lay on opposite shores of a large estuary (the remnant of which is

Breydon Water Breydon Water is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. It is a Local Nature Reserve, a Ramsar site and a Special Protection Area. It is part of the Berney Marshes and Breydon Water nature reserve, whic ...

). The earliest proposal for its identity, made by the antiquary

William Camden William Camden (2 May 1551 – 9 November 1623) was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald, best known as author of ''Britannia'', the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and the ''Ann ...

in the first edition of his ''Britannia'' in 1586, is that Caister was its location; but in his fifth edition of 1600 he changes his mind and suggests that Burgh Castle is the more likely. For centuries, little evidence could be brought to bear, and historians presented opposing views. While the remaining walls at Burgh Castle are clearly consistent with a late Roman fort, the military function of Caister-on-Sea was more open to doubt. A modern reassessment of the Roman settlement at Caister-on-Sea has shown that it too had a military function.Andrew F. Pearson, (2003), ''The construction of the Saxon Shore Forts'', page 10. Archaeopress The identification of Burgh Castle as ''Gariannonum'' is uncertain, and the name could apply to Caister-on-Sea. Archaeological evidence from excavations of the sites in the 1950s indicates that both were similarly occupied for military use in the 4th century, giving rise to the suggestion that the two forts together were considered as one site guarding the entire Yare estuary, with the name ''Gariannonum'' originally applied to the Caister site and then expanded when the second fort was built at the Burgh site.''Burgh Castle History and Research''

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

- retrieved 18 May 2011

Identification

References

External links