Description
The fort was unusual for a Roman fort, being an irregular hexagon rather than oblong, and occupied the whole of the small plateau on which it stood. It occupied an area of almost 6 acres (24,000 m2). The fort was connected to Birdoswald fort by a Roman road, known as the 'Maiden Way'. Two stone signalling towers have been discovered between the two forts (at Barron’s Pike and Robin Hood’s Butts), and it is believed that these were used to pass on signals from Bewcastle to Birdoswald.
It is believed that the fort was built at about the same time as the forts on Hadrian's Wall, and that it was originally built with turf defences and timber buildings, but with gates and headquarters of stone. During the Antonine period, the turf ramparts were faced with stone. It was later completely rebuilt in stone. There were gateways to the north, south, east and west, the west gateway being the main one. The commandant’s house (praetorium) was in the approximate centre of the hexagon, with the headquarters (principia) to the immediate north of it. A Hadrianic-style bathhouse was situated in the south-east section of the fort.
Building inscriptions found at the site indicate that detachments from at least three legions were involved in the building of the fort, the Second Legion (stationed at Caerleon in Wales), the Sixth Legion (based in York) and the Twentieth Legion (based in Chester).
The fort was largely destroyed in A.D. 343, when Hadrian’s Wall was overrun. It was subsequently rebuilt but was finally destroyed after the barbarian invasion of A.D. 367 and was abandoned.
Read more about this topic: Bewcastle Roman Fort
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