Habitancum was an ancient

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 lett ...

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'' ...

(

castrum In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a po ...

) located at Risingham,

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 ...

, England. The fort was one of the defensive structures built along

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 ...

, a

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

running from

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 ...

Corbridge Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Northumberland, Halton, Acomb, Northumberland, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe. Etymology Corbridge was kno ...

and onwards to

Melrose Melrose may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Melrose, Scottish Borders, a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland ** Melrose Abbey, ruined monastery ** Melrose RFC, rugby club Australia * Melrose, Queensland, a locality in the South Burnett R ...

in what is now Scotland. The fort's name is from ''Habitanci'' on an altar set up by Marcus Gavius Secundinus, a consular beneficiary on duty there. It is not mentioned in other sources such as the ''

Notitia Dignitatum The ''Notitia Dignitatum'' (Latin for "The List of Offices") is a document of the late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. It is unique as one of very few surviving documents o ...

''. ''Evidensca'' in the '' Ravenna Cosmography'' is highly unlikely to be a corrupted version of this name.

Location

The fort is situated north of

('' Coria'') and south of

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

(''

Bremenium Bremenium is an ancient Roman fort (castrum) located at Rochester, Northumberland, England. The fort is one of the defensive structures built along Dere Street, a Roman road running from York to Corbridge and onwards to Melrose. Signi ...

''), the next Roman fort on Dere Street. It is west of the

A68 road The A68 is a major road in the United Kingdom, running from Darlington in England to the Edinburgh City Bypass, A720 in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It crosses the Anglo-Scottish border at Carter Bar and is the only road to do so for som ...

between Corbridge and Jedburgh, where the road crosses the

River Rede The Rede is a river in Northumberland, England. The river rises on Carter Fell on the Anglo-Scottish border feeding Catcleugh Reservoir and joins the River North Tyne below the village of Redesmouth. The Rede is one of only two rivers in the ...

at the village of

West Woodburn West Woodburn is a village in north-western Northumberland, England. The 2001 census recorded a population of 492 in the Parish Council area of Corsenside of which West Woodburn is the main settlement. The village is situated south of the bo ...

. At this point Dere Street deviates westwards of the A68 and rejoins it a mile or two further north.

Description

The fort occupies a low mound overlooking the River Rede. It is oblong in shape and measures north to south, and east to west, giving an area of just over . It was surrounded by a number of ditches, which can still be seen on the south and west sides. The fort had gates in the south and west walls. There may have been gates in the other walls but no sign of them has been found. The walls were of sandstone ashlar, backed by a clay bank thirty feet thick. At the end of the 2nd century the fort was either abandoned or destroyed when large numbers of Roman troops were withdrawn. Later, the fort was rebuilt by the First Cohort of

Vangiones The Vangiones appear first in history as an ancient Germanic tribe of unknown provenance. They threw in their lot with Ariovistus in his bid of 58 BC to invade Gaul through the Doubs river valley and lost to Julius Caesar in a battle probably near ...

, one thousand strong.

Garrison

The 2nd-century garrison is not known for certain, but may have been Cohors IV Gallorum equitata. The 3rd-century garrison was the First Cohort of

, as well as a Numerus Exploratorum (Unit of Scouts) and a detachment of Raeti Gaesati (pikemen).

Current site

The only visible stone remains lie at the north-eastern corner angle, but the outlines of many buildings can easily be made out beneath a layer of turf in the fort's interior, as can the ditches on all sides.

References

* J. Collingwood Bruce, ''Roman Wall'' (1863), Harold Hill & Son, * Frank Graham, ''The Roman Wall, Comprehensive History and Guide'' (1979), Frank Graham,
HABITANCVM Roman Fort and Marching Camps

External links

{{Hadrian's Wall forts Roman fortifications in England Military history of Northumberland Roman sites in Northumberland