Longovicium (or Lanchester Roman Fort) was an
auxiliary
Auxiliary may refer to:
In language
* Auxiliary language (disambiguation)
* Auxiliary verb
In military and law enforcement
* Auxiliary police
* Auxiliaries, civilians or quasi-military personnel who provide support of some kind to a military se ...
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 ...
located on Roman
Dere Street
Dere Street or Deere Street is a modern designation of a Roman roads, 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 int ...
, in the
Roman province
The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...
of
Britannia Inferior
Britannia Inferior (Latin for "Lower Britain") was a new province carved out of Roman Britain probably around AD 197 during the reforms of Septimius Severus although the division may have occurred later, between 211 and 220, under Caracall ...
. It is located just southwest of
Lanchester () in the English county of
Durham, roughly to the west of the city of
Durham and from
Consett
Consett is a town in the County Durham (district), County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of County Durham, Durham, England, about south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 27,394 in 2001 and an estimate of 25,812 in ...
.
Etymology
The name ''Longovicium'' is of
Brittonic origin.
The first element is ''*longo-'' meaning "ship" (cf.
Welsh ''llong'').
The second element may be ''wīg'' broadly meaning "settlement" (Welsh ''gwig''; compare
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...
),
or else ''*uic-'', "warrior/fighter".
[Delamarre, Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise, Errance, Paris, 2003 (2nd ed.), p. 207.] ''Longovicum'' may represent an adaption of a tribal name, ''Longovices''.
History
The fort was situated between
Vindomora (
Ebchester), and
Vinovia
Vinovia or Vinovium was a Roman fort and settlement situated just over to the north of the town of Bishop Auckland on the banks of the River Wear in County Durham, England. The fort was the site of a hamlet until the late Middle Ages, but t ...
(
Binchester) on
Dere Street
Dere Street or Deere Street is a modern designation of a Roman roads, 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 int ...
, the main Roman road linking
Eboracum
Eboracum () was a castra, fort and later a coloniae, city in the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia. In its prime it was the largest town in northern Britain and a provincial capital. The site remained occupied after the decline of the ...
(
York
York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
) with
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 ...
. It is about south of the wall, and was built on high ground with clear views around the site. Some archaeologists have postulated that a road may have existed connecting the fort at Longovicium to the one at
Concangis (modern-day
Chester-le-Street
Chester-le-Street () is a market town in County Durham, England. It is located around north of Durham and is close to Newcastle. The town holds markets on Saturdays. In 2021, the town had a population of 23,555.
The town's history is ancient; ...
), but this has yet to be proven.
A construction slab identifies the
Legio XX Valeria Victrix
Legio XX Valeria Victrix, in English the Twentieth Victorious Valeria Legion, was a legion of the Imperial Roman army.
The origin of the Legion's name is unclear and there are various theories, but the legion may have gained its title ''Vale ...
(Twentieth Legion) as having built the fort,
but this gives no real clue as to when the fort was built. In 88 AD, the Emperor
Domitian
Domitian ( ; ; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Described as "a r ...
had ordered the Legio XX abandon the fort they had been building in Scotland at
Inchtuthil
Inchtuthil is the site of a Roman legionary fortress situated on a natural platform overlooking the north bank of the River Tay southwest of Blairgowrie, Perth and Kinross, Scotland (Roman Caledonia).
It was built in AD 82 or 83 as the adva ...
and redeploy to garrison the legionary fortress
Deva Victrix
Deva Victrix, or simply Deva, was a legionary castra, fortress and town in the Roman province of Britannia on the site of the modern city of Chester. The fortress was built by the Legio II Adiutrix, Legio II ''Adiutrix'' in the 70s AD as the ...
(
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...
). But the fort is estimated to have been built later than the other forts on
Dere Street
Dere Street or Deere Street is a modern designation of a Roman roads, 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 int ...
, around 150 AD. There is evidence it was rebuilt around 230/240 AD and again in the early 4th century.
[
The fort is listed both 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 ...
'' and in the ''Ravenna Cosmography
The ''Ravenna Cosmography'' (, "The Cosmography of the Unknown Ravennese") is a work describing the Ecumene, known world from India to Ireland, compiled by an anonymous cleric in Ravenna around 700 AD. It consists of five books describing ...
''.[Longovicivm]
The rectangular fort, which had rounded not square corners, had four gates and was surrounded by a ditch. Despite never having systematically excavated, archaeologists have found the remains of the headquarters buildings, a bathhouse and some barracks buildings through the use of geophysical survey
Geophysical survey is the systematic collection of geophysical data for spatial studies. Detection and analysis of the geophysical signals forms the core of Geophysical signal processing. The magnetic and gravitational fields emanating from the ...
. Remains of a nearby ''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 ...
'' have been found, and its traces can be seen through aerial photography. A cemetery was also discovered in the 20th century to the southwest of the fort, with examples of stone-lined burials and cremations sites. The fact that the fort is located on fields that have not been ploughed means its condition is remarkable, although stone robbing has taken its toll. A column, probably from the colonnade of the Commandant's House, can be found in the nearby All Saints' Parish Church, as can an altar dedicated to the goddess Garmangabis.[
Professor Andrew Breeze, of the University of Navarra, has argued that the ]Battle of Brunanburh
The Battle of Brunanburh was fought in 937 between Æthelstan, King of Kingdom of England, England, and an alliance of Olaf Guthfrithson, King of Kingdom of Dublin, Dublin; Constantine II of Scotland, Constantine II, King of Scotland; and O ...
took place at Longovicium. He interprets ''Brunanburh'' as meaning 'stronghold of the Browney', the river which passes the fort.
Aqueducts and reservoirs
Longovicium is also interesting in having had a copious water supply from two aqueducts, one of which was fed from an impounded source to the west. The dam harnessed the water of 21 springs and was high and in length, being stone faced and clay lined on the inside. Despite not being on the scale of those supplying cities, the Longovicium aqueduct was nevertheless a significant feat of engineering, being considered one of the best preserved aqueducts in Britain.[ There is also a receiving reservoir near the fort itself. The Dolaucothi gold mines had a larger number of aqueducts, and numerous reservoirs, which are also very well preserved. The water supply at Dolaucothi was used for ]hydraulic mining
Hydraulic mining is a form of mining that uses high-pressure jets of water to dislodge rock material or move sediment.Paul W. Thrush, ''A Dictionary of Mining, Mineral, and Related Terms'', US Bureau of Mines, 1968, p.560. In the placer mining of ...
and hushing gold deposits, while that at Longovicium is currently unknown.
Industry
The above-average usage of water might be attributed to the demands of the baths, latrines and the possible Armamentarium, although industrial usage is more likely, since all forts would have baths and latrines. Large-scale smithing
A metalsmith or simply smith is a craftsperson fashioning useful items (for example, tools, kitchenware, tableware, jewelry, armor and weapons) out of various metals. Smithing is one of the oldest metalworking occupations. Shaping metal with a ...
or smelting
Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron-making, iron, copper extraction, copper ...
is assumed to have been carried out within the fort or the associated 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 ...
judging by the large quantities of slag and cinders found at the site. This would seem to support the thesis that this particular fort was home to an Armamentarium, or arms store, where weaponry was fabricated and stored. This would supply not only Longovicium but other nearby forts. However, the site is almost unique in Britain for the size of its water supply, and the remains imply large-scale iron smelting
Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron-making, iron, copper extraction, copper ...
, perhaps assisted by watermill
A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...
s for forging
Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compression (physics), compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die (manufacturing), die. Forging is often classif ...
iron products.
Much of what is known about the site is due to the large number of altars, dedication slabs and a milestone dedicated to emperor Gordian III
Gordian III (; 20 January 225 – February 244) was Roman emperor from 238 to 244. At the age of 13, he became the youngest sole emperor of the united Roman Empire. Gordian was the son of Maecia Faustina and her husband Junius Balbus, who d ...
found away from the fort on the path of Dere Street
Dere Street or Deere Street is a modern designation of a Roman roads, 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 int ...
. Gods worshipped include traditional Roman deities such as Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...
, Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
, Mercury and Silvanus and Celtic and Germanic ones such as Garmangabis. From such stones and building inscriptions it is known who built the fort and eventually garrisoned it.
Garrison
During the first century AD, two stones (an altar and an inscription) attest that the ''Cohors Primae Fida Vardulorum Milliaria Equitata Civium Romanorum'' (The First Cohort of Faithful Varduli, one-thousand strong, part-mounted, citizens of Rome) were present at Longovicium. This unit of Varduli
The Varduli were a pre-Ancient Rome, Roman tribe settled in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, in what today is the western region of the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country.
Their historical territory corresponds with the current ...
had its origins in Hispania Tarraconensis
Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the northern, eastern and central territories of modern Spain along with modern North Region, Portugal, northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now ...
, Gipuzkoa
Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...
, in northern Spain, where the unit was raised. This unit was also present at other forts in the Britannia Superior, such as Castlecary
Castlecary () is a small historic village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, directly adjacent to the border with Falkirk Council, Falkirk. It has long been associated with infrastructure, being adjacent to Red Burn, a bridged river, a Castra, Roma ...
on the Antonine Wall
The Antonine Wall () was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. Built some twenty years after Hadrian's Wall to the south ...
, Bremenium (High Rochester), Corstopitum (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 k ...
) and milecastle 19 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 ...
. The Tarraconensis region of Spain was the most important source of gold, tin
Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...
, copper and other metals and minerals in the entire Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
, and the Romans applied water power on a large scale for hydraulic mining
Hydraulic mining is a form of mining that uses high-pressure jets of water to dislodge rock material or move sediment.Paul W. Thrush, ''A Dictionary of Mining, Mineral, and Related Terms'', US Bureau of Mines, 1968, p.560. In the placer mining of ...
using aqueducts to tap the local rivers. The remains of their mining efforts can be seen today at Las Médulas
Las Médulas () is a historic gold-mining site near the town of Ponferrada in the comarca of El Bierzo (León (province), province of León, Castile and León, Spain). It was the most important gold gold mining, mine, as well as the largest open ...
, for example. It may not be coincidental that Lanchester possesses so many aqueducts and reservoirs, although they must have been adapted for some other purpose.
Two more stone inscriptions, dated AD 238 and 244, attest to the ''Cohors Primae Lingonum''s (First Cohort of Lingones
The Lingones (Gaulish: 'the jumpers') were a Gallic tribe of the Iron Age and Roman periods. They dwelled in the region surrounding the present-day city of Langres, between the provinces of Gallia Lugdunensis and Gallia Belgica.
Name
A ...
) and the ''Cohors Primae Lingonum Gordiana equitatas (First Cohort of Lingones, Gordian's own, part mounted) presence. The Lingones inhabited the Plateau de Langres in the Bourgogne region of France, near Dijon
Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...
. There was also a detachment of Suebians (or Suevi
file:1st century Germani.png, 300px, The approximate positions of some Germanic peoples reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 1st century. Suebian peoples in red, and other Irminones in purple.
The Suebi (also spelled Suavi, Suevi or Suebians ...
) from Lusitania
Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province encompassing most of modern-day Portugal (south of the Douro River) and a large portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and Province of Salamanca). Romans named the region after th ...
present at this time.
The fourth century saw the fort garrisoned by a native unit of Longovicians, an irregular part-mounted auxiliary unit commanded by Roman knights.[
]
Future projects
The Friends of Longovicium society, Durham County Council
Durham County Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of County Durham (district), County Durham in North East England. The council is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority, bein ...
, Durham University
Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...
and Newcastle University
Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...
have been working together with the owner of the lands on which the fort is situated to eventually open the area to the public, turning it into a tourist attraction. Possible excavations are also envisaged. The project currently needs a couple of million pounds, funds which the County Council is pursuing through 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 ...
.Rob Robinson Heritage Consulting
/ref>
See also
*Dolaucothi Gold Mines
The Dolaucothi Gold Mines (; ) (), also known as the Ogofau Gold Mine, are ancient Roman surface and underground mines located in the valley of the River Cothi, near Pumsaint, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The gold mines are located within the ...
*Roman aqueduct
The Romans constructed aqueducts throughout their Republic and later Empire, to bring water from outside sources into cities and towns. Aqueduct water supplied public baths, latrines, fountains, and private households; it also supported min ...
s
*Roman engineering
The ancient Romans were famous for their advanced engineering accomplishments. Technology for bringing running water into cities was developed in the east, but transformed by the Romans into a technology inconceivable in Greece. The architecture ...
*Roman military engineering
Roman military engineering was of a scale and frequency far beyond that of its contemporaries. Indeed, military engineering was in many ways endemic in Roman military culture, as demonstrated by each Roman legionary having as part of his equipmen ...
*Dere Street
Dere Street or Deere Street is a modern designation of a Roman roads, 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 int ...
*Castra
''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...
* Roman sites in the United Kingdom
References
External links
Historic England Info on Fort
{{Auth
Buildings and structures completed in the 2nd century
Roman fortifications in England
Roman sites in County Durham
English Heritage sites in County Durham
Tourist attractions in County Durham
Former populated places in County Durham
History of County Durham
Scheduled monuments in County Durham
Roman auxiliary forts in England
Lanchester, County Durham