Uxelodunum
Church Street, Stanwix. The fort was in the area around St Michael's church
Petriana is located in Cumbria
Petriana
Location in Cumbria
Alternative name(s)Petriana
Known also asStanwix Fort
Location
Coordinates54°54′18″N 2°56′31″W / 54.905°N 2.942°W / 54.905; -2.942
CountyCumbria
CountryEngland
Reference
UK-OSNG referenceNY396571
Uxelodunum fort, Hadrian's Wall with milecastles, and Luguvalium on 1964 OS map

Uxelodunum (with the alternative Roman name of Petriana and the modern name of Stanwix Fort) was a Roman fort with associated civilian settlement (vicus) in modern-day Carlisle, Cumbria, England. It was the largest fort on Hadrian's Wall and is now buried beneath the suburb of Stanwix.[1]

Roman name

The fort was called Petrianis in the Notitia Dignitatum, but on the Ravenna Cosmography it is called Uxellodamo. On the Rudge Cup it is spelled VXELODVM. On the Amiens Skillet it is spelled VXELODVNVM. It is also spelled VXELODVNVM on the Staffordshire Moorlands Pan. The name Petrianis comes from the cohort that was stationed there, which appears to be a latinisation of a Celtic toponym thought to mean High Fort.[2]

It is thus likely that the name Petriana was a scribal error which confused the fort's name and the occupying unit, and that the fort's true name was Uxelodunum.[3]

History

In 122 the province was visited by Hadrian who started the building of the wall along the frontier slightly to the north of the Stanegate, the previous frontier. A new large fort, Uxelodunum, was built therefore on the wall in the Stanwix area of Carlisle north of the river, near the existing settlement of Luguvallum on the Stanegate and within sight of the Luguvalium fort. A small turf-and-timber fort was built with its northern rampart consisting of the original Turf Wall and its long axis parallel to the Wall. The Wall's vallum ditches behind the wall were placed close enough to leave sufficient space for the ramparts of this fort. The fort was later rebuilt in stone when the wall was rebuilt likewise.[4] Milecastle 65 was also built on the wall about 1km northwest of the fort.

The fort was then considerably expanded to the north and west to accommodate the larger Ala Gallorum Petriana,[5] the nominally 1,000-strong cavalry regiment, the sole regiment of this size in Britain, after the internal buildings had been demolished as well as the south-western and northern rampart walls. In extending north beyond the Wall, as required by a cavalry fort, the fort was pushed to the edge of the escarpment and it may also have extended to the south to the limit of the Vallum.[6]

It was abandoned like the rest of the wall in about 138 when the Antonine wall was built, but was rebuilt in stone in about 165 when Hadrian's Wall was reinstated as the frontier and locally also rebuilt in stone.[7]

Description

The fort is about forty miles from Castlesteads (Camboglanna) and five and a half miles east of Burgh by Sands (Aballava), the nearest forts on Hadrian's Wall. It stands on a natural platform above the River Eden. The fort was intended to guard the Eden bridgehead and watch the important western route to and from Scotland.

The fort measured about 177 m north to south by 213 m east to west, covering approximately 9.32 acres (3.77 ha), much larger than the other wall forts. The later fort layout extended north beyond the Wall to allow the garrison to exit northwards through 3 wide gates. North of the wall the rampart was fronted by three ditches.[8]

Most of the fort lies beneath Saint Michael’s Church, where traces of the fort’s south-eastern rampart remain in the churchyard as a low, spread bank, at best 0.3m high. Some masonry is displayed in the car park of the Cumbria Park hotel.

Some nearby remains have been discovered including the parade ground and a bathhouse discovered in 2017.

Garrison

Because of the large size of the fort, it is thought to have housed a cavalry regiment, nominally one thousand strong. This was almost certainly the Ala Petriana,[9] the sole regiment of this size on the Wall where it is placed by the Notitia dignitatum. This was a distinguished auxiliary regiment, whose soldiers had been made Roman citizens for valour on the field of battle.[10] It seems that the fort was given the name of its garrison, thus supplanting the earlier name of Uxelodunum.

Vicus

Traces of a civil settlement outside the walls are surprisingly slight given the large size of the fort, but the Roman town of Carlisle was probably near enough to serve in place of a vicus.[11] Archaeological evidence includes masonry and pottery in the churchyard and material on Stanwix bank, second century occupation found in 1931 outside the west rampart and a mid 2nd century bronzesmith's workshop discovered in 1930 below the fort with both military and civilian products.

Signs of buildings were visible in the 18th century south-east of the fort on the slope towards the river.[12][13]

Excavations

Excavations in 1932–4 traced the ditch for the south rampart as well as Hadrian's Wall, which formed the north face of the fort. Barrack-like buildings were also found within the outline of the fort. In 1939 a large granary, lying east to west, was found in extending the local school-yard. In 1940 the south-west angle tower was found as well as the south and east walls.

In 1934 various objects were found which appeared to have been washed down into the river from the fort. These included brooches, mountings for cavalrymen's uniforms and harness.

In 1939-40 the line of the walls was established and an angle tower and interval tower were located.

Excavations in 1984 uncovered a 24 m length of the base of the north-western rampart in the car park behind the Cumbria Park Hotel in Stanwix which are on public display.[14]

Baths

In 2017 a major discovery was made of a bath-house on the riverside beneath the grounds of Carlisle Cricket Club (Edenside cricket ground). The well-preserved remains include a hypocaust for heating. Also found was an inscription to Julia Domna, the wife of the Emperor Septimius Severus, whom she accompanied in Britain from 208 until his death in 211 at York. The inscription prompts the question, whether Julia Domna and her husband visited Petriana.

In summer 2021, a community archaeological dig took place on the site.[15] A group of tiles were found with the imperial stamp of Septimus Severus.[16][17] Later finds included a group of about 30 semi-precious gems, some carved as intaglia, which were found in a drain and are thought to have been lost by bathers.[18] The "Uncovering Roman Carlisle" project, including the Cricket Club dig, won the Council for British Archaeology and Marsh Community Trust's Community Archaeology Project of the Year 2022 award.[19] The dig continued in 2023, and in May 2023 two large stone heads were found.[20]

References

  1. ↑ "MAGiC MaP : Roman fort of Stanwix ( Use Table of Contents for Colour Mapping )". Natural England - Magic in the Cloud. The map shows the confluence of the River Caldew with the River Eden. The site of the Roman fort of Stanwix ( Petriana ) on Hadrian's Wall, shown to the north of the River Eden, is within the designated World Heritage Site (SHADED POLYGON)
  2. ↑ For the etymology of the "dun" element in the name, see Dun. The element uxello- is cognate with Irish uasal ("noble") or Welsh uchel ("high"). There was a similarly named hill fort in Gaul called Uxellodunum (see Uxellodunum, Encyclopedia Universalis for its etymology).
  3. ↑ Historic England. "Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the field boundary west of Wall Knowe and Scotland Road including the Roman fort at Stanwix in wall mile 65 (1017948)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  4. ↑ Hadrian's Wall - Fort - Stanwix (Uxelodunum) https://www.roman-britain.co.uk/places/uxelodunum/
  5. ↑ RIB 957
  6. ↑ Stanwix Roman Fort, Historic England Research Records https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=11402&sort=2&type=&rational=a&class1=None&period=43%7C410%7CROMAN%7C38%7C0&county=666498&district=666498&parish=92400&place=Carlisle&yearfrom=43&yearto=410&recordsperpage=60&source=text&rtype=&rnumber=&p=1&move=n&nor=86&recfc=0&resourceID=19191
  7. ↑ Pearce, John. "Locations around Vindolanda". Vindolanda Tablets Online. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
  8. ↑ Dacre J A et al. Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society 85, 1985, Pp 53-69
  9. ↑ CIL VII.929
  10. ↑ John E. H. Spaul: Ala. The Auxiliary Cavalry Units of the Pre-Diocletianic Imperial Roman Army (Andover: Nectoreca Press, 1994), pp. 180–182 ISBN 0-9525062-0-3
  11. ↑ Historic England Research Records, Stanwix Settlement https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=11458&sort=2&type=&rational=a&class1=None&period=43%7C410%7CROMAN%7C38%7C0&county=666498&district=666498&parish=92400&place=Carlisle&yearfrom=43&yearto=410&recordsperpage=60&source=text&rtype=&rnumber=&p=1&move=n&nor=86&recfc=0&resourceID=19191
  12. ↑ Britannia Romana 1732 (J Horsley)
  13. ↑ Lysons Magna Britannia Vol 4 1816 (Bishop of Cloyne)
  14. ↑ Hadrian's Wall - Fort - Stanwix (Uxelodunum) https://www.roman-britain.co.uk/places/uxelodunum/
  15. ↑ "Excavation of Carlisle Roman bathhouse – get involved". Cumbria Guide. 20 August 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  16. ↑ Peskett, Ted (1 October 2021). "Roman dig at Carlisle Cricket Club draws to a close". News and Star. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  17. ↑ "Carlisle Roman bathhouse excavation unearths Roman Imperial tiles". BBC News. 26 September 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  18. ↑ Alberge, Dalya (28 January 2023). "'Incredible' Roman bathers' gems lost 2,000 years ago found near Hadrian's Wall". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  19. ↑ "The Marsh Community Archaeology Awards". www.archaeologyuk.org. Archived from the original on 9 January 2023.
  20. ↑ "'Priceless' Roman head sculptures found at Carlisle Cricket Club". BBC News. 24 May 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.

Sources

  • J. Collingwood Bruce, The Roman Wall (1863), Harold Hill & Son, ISBN 0-900463-32-5
  • Frank Graham, The Roman Wall, Comprehensive History and Guide (1979), Frank Graham, ISBN 0-85983-140-X
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