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Cilurnum or Cilurvum was an
ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...
fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...
on
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 ...
at Chesters near the village of Walwick,
Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...
. It is also known as Walwick Chesters to distinguish it from Great Chesters fort and
Halton Chesters Hunnum (also known as Onnum, and with the modern name of Halton Chesters) was a Ancient Rome, Roman castra, fort on Hadrian's Wall located north of the modern-day village of Halton, Northumberland in North East England. It was the fifth fort o ...
. Cilurnum is included in the ''
Notitia Dignitatum The (Latin for 'List of all dignities and administrations both civil and military') 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 ...
'' of the late 4th/early 5th century. Cilurnum is considered to be the best-preserved and best example of a
Roman cavalry Roman cavalry (Latin: ''equites Romani'') refers to the horse-mounted forces of the Roman army throughout the regal, republican, and imperial eras. In the regal era, the Roman cavalry was a group of 300 soldiers called ''celeres'', tasked wi ...
fort on Hadrian's Wall. The site is now preserved by
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, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
as Chesters Roman Fort. There is a museum on the site housing finds from the fort and elsewhere along the wall.


The fort

Hadrian's Wall was built from 122 AD and the forts were built a few years later. Cilurnum was first built as a cavalry fort with its walls projecting north of the Wall and with three of its main gateways on the north allowing easier and rapid access to that side. It was given over to infantry later. Excavations here helped show the early changes in construction of Hadrian's Wall. At Chesters the original Wall project had been carried out only in part: Turret 27a had been built on the site of the later fort, together with a short length of Wall on either side of it, just sufficient to serve as buttresses to the turret, whilst the frontal ditch for the Wall had been dug completely. It was shown that the fort-builders then had to demolish the turret and fill in the ditch for the cavalry fort. This also made it clear that the new cavalry forts (at Benwell,
Halton Chesters Hunnum (also known as Onnum, and with the modern name of Halton Chesters) was a Ancient Rome, Roman castra, fort on Hadrian's Wall located north of the modern-day village of Halton, Northumberland in North East England. It was the fifth fort o ...
, Uxellodunum and Rudchester) at least were not for the defence of the Wall but to allow rapid attacks northwards into unoccupied territory. A road from the southern gateway linked the fort with the
Stanegate The Stanegate (meaning "stone road" in Northumbrian dialect) was an important Roman road and early frontier built in what is now northern England. It linked many forts including two that guarded important river crossings: Corstopitum (Corbr ...
. The two smaller single gates at each side allowed the Roman Military Way of the mid-2nd century to pass through the fort. The rampart walk was built fifteen feet above ground-level to match the Wall. The height of the gates and towers would have been more than 9 m. The site guarded Chesters Bridge carrying the Military Way behind the wall across the River North Tyne. Massive
abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end that provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...
s of this bridge survive across the river from the fort. Four large Roman columns, believed to come from Cilurnum, may be seen supporting the south aisle in the church of St Giles at Chollerton, a couple of miles upstream from the fort.


Garrisons

* Ala II Asturum, late 2nd century An early inscription on an altar dedicated to Disciplina, found in 1978, indicates the earliest-known military presence was a wing of cavalry, ''ala Augusta ob virtutem appellata'' (‘named Augusta because of its valour’). Inscriptions have also been found showing that the Cohors I Delmatarum in (138-161), from present-day Bosnia-Herzegovina (Yugoslavia), and the
Cohors I Vangionum Milliaria Equitata Cohors Primae Vangionum Milliaria Equitata (First Cohort of Vangiones) was a Roman auxiliary infantry cohort from Upper Germany with both horse and foot soldiers known as a '' cohors equitata'', and nominally 1000 strong (''cohors milliaria''). ...
from Upper Rhineland in Germany, were also stationed here.


Baths

The fort baths were on the western bank of the river North Tyne, close to the Roman bridge. Various modifications and repairs were made over the centuries. They are considered the most impressive on the Wall and one of the best-preserved examples in the whole of the Roman empire.


Vicus

The large and elaborate ''
vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus ...
'' (civil settlement) was on either side of the road just outside the fort’s southern gate leading to the Stanegate. It was probably built from about the 3rd century. The street from the south gate bends gradually westwards and is joined by side streets lined with buildings including more complicated structures, with ranges of rooms and corridors such as the town-houses.


Excavation

In the early 19th century Nathaniel Clayton, owner of Chesters House and Estate, moved hundreds of tons of earth to cover the last remains of the fort as part of his parkland landscaping, thereby creating a smooth uninterrupted grassland slope down to the River Tyne; however he collected, before they disappeared, a number of Roman artefacts, which he preserved. When his son John Clayton, a noted
antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...
, inherited the estate in 1832 he undid his father's landscaping, exposing the fort, excavated the ruins and established a small museum for the finds. John Clayton also purchased and carried out excavations at Housesteads Fort, Carrawburgh Mithraic Temple and
Carvoran Magnis or Magna was a Roman Empire, Roman castra, fort near Hadrian's Wall in northern Roman Britain, Britain. Its ruins are now known as and are located near Carvoran, Northumberland, in northern England. It was built on the Stanegate fronti ...
.


Museum

The museum was commissioned in 1895 and opened in 1903. It is a grade II*
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
and was designed by
Richard Norman Shaw Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the g ...
. It displays part of John Clayton's collection of Roman finds.


Curators

Until 1950 there was no curator of the Clayton Collection, only a caretaker, paid for by the Keith family. Between 1950 and 1972 Grace Simpson was the Honorary Curator of the Collection and spent a great deal of time working on the Collection, in particular the material excavated by her father, F. G. Simpson. When she left, Dr David J. Smith, who at the time was the keeper at the Museum of Antiquities, held the position until 1987.
Lindsay Allason-Jones Lindsay Allason-Jones, (born January 1953) is a British archaeologist and museum professional specialising in Roman material culture, Hadrian's Wall, Roman Britain, and the presence and role of women in the Roman Empire. She is currently a visi ...
became a trustee of the collection in August 1987 and became the then Honorary Curator. The collection became the responsibility of
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, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
in 1983 and the new post of 'Curator of Hadrian's Wall Museums' was created This position was filled briefly by John Dore (1983–1986), Sally Dumner and then Bill Hubbard. Georgina Plowright held the position from 1987 until her retirement in 2012 and was responsible for the refurbishment and re-display of the museum as well as the production of an electronic catalogue of the collections. Frances McIntosh is the current Curator of Hadrian's Wall and the North East for English Heritage.


Gallery

File:Chollerford MMB 03 Cilurnum.jpg, View File:Chesters Roman fort barracks.jpg, The barracks File:The Baths located outside the fort, considered as the best-preserved Roman military building in Britain, Chesters Roman Fort (Cilurnum), Hadrian's Wall (44705870592).jpg, The baths


References


Sources

*Birley, Eric, Chesters Roman Fort Official Guide-book 1960
Roman Britain
*
Chesters Roman Fort and Museum - Hadrian's Wall
- official site English Heritage
'Chesters Roman for: outpost of empire'
on Google Arts & Culture {{authority control Forts of Hadrian's Wall Roman fortifications in England Roman sites in Northumberland English Heritage sites in Northumberland Museums in Northumberland Museums of ancient Rome in the United Kingdom Archaeological museums in England