Reasons for Designation
Hadrian's Wall marks one of the frontiers of the Roman Empire. The
international importance of the surviving remains has been recognised through
designation as a World Heritage Site.
The military importance of the Tyne-Solway route across the Pennines was
recognised by the Romans during their early campaigns through northern England
and into Scotland in the second half of the first century AD. At this time a
military road, the Stanegate, was constructed along with a series of forts.
Subsequently the Romans largely withdrew from Scotland and there is evidence
that the Tyne-Solway route was being recognised as a frontier by the start of
the second century AD. This position was consolidated in the early second
century by the construction of a substantial frontier work, Hadrian's Wall,
under the orders of the Emperor Hadrian. Hadrian's successor, Antoninus Pius,
subsequently attempted to establish the boundary further north, between the
Clyde and the Firth of Forth, but by c.AD 160 growing unrest amongst the
native populations of northern Britain and pressures elsewhere in the Empire
caused a retraction back to the Hadrianic line. Hadrian's Wall was then the
frontier of the Roman Empire in Britain until c.AD 400 when the Roman armies
withdrew from Britain.
Stretching over 70 miles from coast to coast, Hadrian's Wall was a continuous
barrier built of stone in the east and, initially, of turf in the west. The
stone wall was originally designed to be ten Roman feet wide and sections of
this width are termed broad wall. A change of plan shortly after construction
began led to a reduction in the width of the Wall to eight Roman feet, such
sections being termed narrow wall. Today, stretches of both wall types
survive, including some sections of narrow wall built on broad wall
foundations. For most of its length a substantial ditch on the northern side
provided additional defence. Where the Wall crossed rivers, bridges were
constructed to carry it across. Construction of the Wall was organised and
executed by legionary soldiers.
From the beginning the barrier was planned to comprise more than just a
curtain wall. At regularly spaced intervals of about a mile along its length
lay small walled fortlets known as milecastles. These were attached to the
southern side of the Wall and most had a gateway through the Wall to the
north. Hence they controlled crossing points through the Wall as well as
affording space for a small stable garrison. Between the milecastles were two
equally spaced towers known as turrets. Together the milecastles and turrets
provided bases from which the curtain wall could be watched and patrolled.
Both the turrets and milecastles are thought to have been higher than the Wall
itself to provide suitable observation points. It is often assumed that a
platform existed on the Wall so that troops could actually patrol along the
wall top; it is however far from certain that this was the case.
At the western end of the Wall a system of towers, small fortlets and palisade
fences extended the frontier system another 30 miles or so down the Cumbrian
coast and helped control shipping moving across the estuary of the Solway
Firth.
As originally planned, and apart from whatever space there was in the
milecastles, provision for the accommodation of garrison troops manning the
Wall was left with the line of forts which already lay along the Stanegate. At
some point a fundamental change of plan took place and forts were constructed
along the line of the Wall itself. There are now known to have been 16 forts
either attached to the Wall or in close association with it. Some overlay
earlier features such as turrets or milecastles. At this stage another linear
element, the vallum, was also added to the defensive system to the south of
the Wall. This was a broad flat-bottomed ditch flanked by a pair of linear
banks. It shadows the course of the Wall for almost all its length, sometimes
lying very close to it but sometimes up to a kilometre away from it. The
vallum's main function was to act as a barrier to restrict access to the Wall
from the south. It also had a function in linking the forts along the Wall
with a method of lateral communication. When the forts were placed along the
wall line no provision was made for a road to link them. This situation was
clearly found impracticable and a metalled track was therefore provided in
places along the vallum between the north mound and the ditch.
Later, after the withdrawal back to the Hadrianic line from the Antonine Wall,
various refurbishments were made throughout the frontier line. At this stage a
new linear feature was added: the `Military Way'. This was a road linking
all elements of the Wall defence, running from fort to fort within the area
bounded by the Wall and the vallum.
Throughout its long history the Wall was not always well maintained. It was
often neglected and sometimes overrun, but it remained in use until the late
fourth century when a weak and divided Roman Empire finally withdrew its
armies from the Wall and Britain.
It now survives in various states of preservation. In places, especially in
the central section, the Stone Wall still remains several courses high and the
attached forts, turrets and milecastles are also clearly indentifiable.
Earthwork features such as the ditch, vallum and Military Way also survive
well in places. Elsewhere the Stone Wall has been virtually robbed out and
only its foundations survive beneath the present ground surface. Similarly,
stretches of the earthwork remains, including sections of the Turf Wall, have
been levelled or infilled and now only survive as buried features. Although
some sections of the frontier system no longer survive visibly, sufficient
evidence does exist for its position to be fairly accurately identified
throughout most of its length.
The Stanegate military road linked Corbridge and Carlisle, both of which were
also situated on important north-south routeways. It also extended west of
Carlisle towards the Cumbrian coast. The construction of a series of forts
along the road line allowed many troops to be stationed in this crucial
frontier zone and ensured that the area could be closely patrolled. A series
of smaller watch towers were also built to help frontier control. The
Stanegate frontier was consolidated during the late first and early second
century AD and helped crystallise Roman tactics and military expectations in
the area. The function of the Stanegate road and its forts was changed by the
building of Hadrian's Wall. Initially at least, the Stanegate's support
function was enhanced, but as the new frontier line became more fully
established its strategic importance declined.
The vicus associated with Kirkbride Roman fort would have comprised a cluster
of buildings such as domestic residences, workshops, shops and temples,
together with roads, trackways, enclosures, fields, and garden plots. Such
vici were similar to contemporary small towns, although they lacked the
planned street grid normally evident in the latter. Normally they also lacked
the defences surrounding the small towns. Unlike other towns the vici were
probably administered by the military authorities rather than being self-
governing. The close juxtaposition of the fort and vicus will provide insight
on the workings of the civilian communities. In this instance the close
proximity of the site to the Roman frontier was probably of considerable
contemporary importance and activities within the vicus are thought to have
been closely linked to wider activities within the frontier region.
Roman roads were the first artificially made-up routes in Britain and were
introduced by the Roman army from approximately 43 AD. They facilitated both
the conquest of the province and its administration. Additionally Roman roads
acted as commercial routes and became foci for settlements and industry. They
provide important evidence of Roman engineering skills as well as the pattern
of conquest and settlement.
A combination of aerial photographs, limited excavations and geophysical
surveys have shown that buried remains of Kirkbride Roman fort, its associated
vicus and an approximately 130m length of Roman road issuing from the fort's
east gate survive reasonably well. The monument will contain considerable
information about its origin and form and will contribute greatly to any
further study of Roman frontier defences.
Details
The monument includes the buried remains of those parts of the late
first/early second century AD Roman fort at Kirkbride which do not underlie St
Bride's Church and its churchyard, together with part of the fort's associated
civilian settlement or vicus and a length of Roman road leading from the
fort's east gate. The fort is located on a low but commanding position
overlooking the River Wampool, at the head of one arm of the sea inlet called
Moricambe which deeply indents the curve of the Solway shore. Although no
surface remains of the fort, vicus and road are visible, recent aerial
photographs, together with a combination of limited excavations and
geophysical surveys, have shown that the fort measures approximately 190m by
175m and is defended by a turf rampart 9m wide and double outer ditches, the
largest measuring up to 7m wide by 2.5m deep. Strategically Kirkbride Roman
fort formed part of the Stanegate frontier system which operated by
transforming a military road, initially in this case the Roman road between
Carlisle and Corbridge, into a frontier road by the building of numerous forts
along its length. Once completed the Stanegate ran from Kirkbride on the
Cumbrian coast to the fort at Washing Well on the south bank of the River
Tyne, and was supplemented by a number of manned watch towers to the north
from where signals could be relayed back to some of the forts. This Roman
frontier was superseded by Hadrian's Wall, the building of which commenced in
122 AD, and Kirkbride is considered to have been abandoned once Hadrian's Wall
became operational.
Limited excavations of the fort and its defences found evidence for timber or
half-timbered buildings, internal roads and industrial furnaces. Finds
included pottery, metalwork, glass, and organic remains such as bone, leather,
wood and insects. Aerial photographs also clearly show a crop mark
representing an approximately 130m length of the Roman road issuing from the
fort's east gate and running eventually to Carlisle. Close to the east gate
limited excavation found evidence for an extra-mural building which formed
part of the associated vicus, while test pits dug further east found evidence
for civilian occupation over a wide area.
A number of features are excluded from the scheduling; these are Bank House
Farm and its associated outbuildings, The Rectory and its associated
outbuildings, the house known as Two Hoots and its garage, all modern walls,
all fenceposts and gateposts, a pond and the site of an old slurry pit
associated with Bank House Farm, and the surfaces of all gravelled areas,
farmyards, roads, access drives, paths and tracks; the ground beneath all
these features, however, is included. The area of St Bride's Church and
churchyard is not included in the scheduling.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
