Chesters Roman Fort

Chesters Roman Fort is one of several forts built along Hadrian’s Wall in the north of England. This site, which lies about ten km west of Housesteads Roman Fort, should not be confused with Chester further south. The Roman name for Chesters is Cilurnum. The Roman name for Chester is Deva.

The fort was built to house a cavalry unit named “Augusta” because of its valour: “ala Augusta ob virtutem appellata.” But towards the end of the second century AD it was replaced by another unit whose members originally came from Asturia: “ala II Asturum.”

The typical Roman fort is shaped like a playing card, i.e. a rectangle with round corners. The Romans had standard regulations for the orientation of a fort and for the different buildings inside it, but there was always room for local variations. No two forts are exactly alike.

This fort is built astride the wall. Three of the four major gates gave access to the area north of the wall, while the south gate gave access the area south of the wall. East of the fort we have the river North Tyne. In Roman times the wall crossed the river here. Between the fort and the river we have the bath house.

In Chesters you can see the foundations of the four major gates. You can also see the foundation of the minor gate on the east side, known as Porta Quintana Dextra. Inside the fort you can see the foundations of several buildings: the military headquarters (principium), the commandant’s house (praetorium), and some barracks.

The Bath House, located between the fort and the river, is one of the best preserved Roman buildings in England, with walls surviving to an average height of two meters. You can identify all the major rooms of a Roman bath house here: entrance room (vestibulum), changing room (apodyterium), the cold room (frigidarium), the tepid room (tepidarium), the hot room (calidarium), the furnace (praefurnium), and the latrines (latrinae).

In Wallsend Roman Fort – ancient Segedunum – in present-day Newcastle, archaeologists have built a full-scale reconstruction of a Roman bath house. The reconstruction is based on the remains of the bath house at Chesters, but has been laid out in mirror image in order to fit the space available for it.

On the other side of the river (on the eastern bank) we have the remains of the bridge which carried the wall across the river. The Romans built at least two bridges here. The first, from ca. AD 125, had nine low arches, while the second, from AD 209, had four grand arches and a tower at both ends.

In order to visit the abutment of the bridge on the eastern river bank you have to leave the fort, walk back to the car park, follow the B6318 to Chollerford, cross the river on the modern bridge, and then follow the footpath along the river to the Roman bridge. It is quite a walk, just to get to the other side of the river!

This ancient site is the subject of an excellent booklet written by J. S. Johnson and published by English Heritage. The booklet is divided into four parts. The first part presents a tour of the fort, including the local museum. The second part gives information about the bridge. The third part gives information about the Romans in the North of England, including the construction of Hadrian’s Wall. The last part presents the history of the fort.

The text is illustrated by a large number of photos, drawings and maps. Unfortunately, all illustrations (except the pictures on the front cover and the back cover) are in black-and-white. Fortunately, all illustrations are helpful and instructive.

The photos show the current situation. They show what is visible today. The drawings are modern reconstructions. They show what a particular building (probably) looked like when it was new. The drawing on page 13 gives a general impression of how the bath house may have looked in Roman times. The maps give us orientation: there is a map of the fort and the surrounding area on pp. 2-3; there is a map of the fort itself on page 6, and a floor plan of the bath house on page 12.

The first part of the booklet – “A Tour of the Fort and Bath House” – is divided into several short sections, including the following:

* The north gate

* The west gate

* The southern part of the fort

* The barracks

* The bath house

* The civilian settlement south of the fort

The local museum is located in a small building north of the fort, next to the modern car park. Here you can see some of the objects found along Hadrian’s Wall. The museum was set up around 1900, and the presentation has not changed much since then. The style is Victorian, i.e. a large number of objects in a small room.

Chesters Roman Fort is an important and interesting historical monument. It is worth a visit. J. S. Johnson has written an excellent guidebook about this site. Read it before you go there. It will help you understand and appreciate what you see. Bring it with you when you go there. The maps will help you navigate the fort and the surrounding area.

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J. S. Johnson,

Chesters Roman Fort,

English Heritage, London,

First published 1990, reprinted 1995, 1998, 1999, 44 pages

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A new guidebook for Chesters Roman Fort, written by Nick Hodgson, 

was published by English Heritage in 2011. Here is the cover:

 

 

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