Castra Exploratorum (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "Fortress of the Scouts") was a Roman fort and associated substantial civil settlement now in the grounds of Netherby Hall,

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

. It was first built by Agricola during his conquest of the north in around 80 AD.

History

The first known garrison was Cohors I Nervanorum in about the year 125 when the forts of

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall (, also known as the ''Roman Wall'', Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Aelium'' in Latin) is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

were built further south. At this time it became an "outpost fort" to the north of the frontier, about half a day's march from the wall. As shown by inscriptions, the fort became the headquarters of the frontier scouts in the reorganisation of Britain into two provinces by

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; ; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through cursus honorum, the ...

Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname Caracalla (; ), was Roman emperor from 198 to 217 AD, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father and then r ...

. It was then garrisoned by the larger Cohors I Aelia Hispanorum . This cohortnominally comprising 1000 men and about 300 horsesrequired a larger fort. The fort baths were built around 222 AD when a temple was also rebuiltRIB 979 and occupation continued well into the 4th century, as with

's other four outpost forts.

References

{{coord, 55.0367, -2.9459, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Roman auxiliary forts in England Roman sites in Cumbria