Tag Archives: Chesters Roman Fort

Chesters Roman Fort part 2

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The ruins that you can see in the distance below are what remains of the camp commandant’s house. As you can see the area that the fort is set in is scenic but I imagine it would have looked a bit different in Roman times, nearly 2,000 years ago, however the land here was very fertile even back then it seems and was able to provide enough in the way of crops for humans and horses. The fort was known to the Romans as Cilurnum.

Commandant's house from distance

Closer up you can imagine that it must have been a lot more comfortable than any of the other accommodation, and at least he had central heating, I think the bricks are part of that system.

Commandant's House , Chesters fort, Cilurnum, Northumberland, Roman ruin

By Commandant's House, Chesters fort, Northumberland

The floor below would have had a mosaic pattern on it I’m sure, but what can be seen in the photo are the supports of the floor.

Commandant's House, Roman floor, Northumberland

Annoyingly I don’t seem to have an info board photo for the commandant’s house, but the HQ info board below is quite interesting.

HQ Building info board, Chesters Roman fort

But as you can see there isn’t much left of it nowadays.

HQ building, Chesters Roman fort, ruins

You need a good imagination!

HQ Building Chesters Roman fort, Northumberland

The info board below gives you an idea of how grand and imposing this area would have been – all to keep those barbarians from the north out!

Main East Gate Board, Chesters Roman fort, Northumberland

Chesters Roman Fort, Hadrian’s Wall

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Last week we travelled down to the north-east of England again, just for a few nights, and it’s just typical that when we had only been down there half a day or so the weather changed from what had been days and days of hot dry weather – to heavy rain – such is life, and I suppose the gardens needed it!

Before the heavens opened we did manage to fit in a visit to Chesters Roman Fort. I was surprised at how busy it was but the English school holidays had just begun and I think the English Heritage site had just been allowed to open up again after the Covid lockdown.

The fort was only discovered in the 1840s by John Clayton the landowner, who had a lot of his men uncovering the Roman remains, the work was continued by his nephew who inherited the estate, although the Claytons were very wealthy and had a lot of men digging up the area there are still lots of parts to be excavated, presumably when English Heritage can afford to do it. Below is a photo of the fort HQ.

HQ Building, Chester's fort, Roman remains, Cumbria

The photo below is the base of what was an interval tower.

Interval Tower , Chester's Roman Fort, Cumbria

The whole fort was obviously part of Hadrian’s Wall but there are only a few bits of the actual wall uncovered at the moment, presumably a dig would find more of it although I expect that a lot of the stones have been re-used over the years by farmers needing houses and farm walls.

Part of Hadrian's wall, Chesters Roman Fort, Cumbria

Below is a photo of the remains of some of the stables.

Stables , Chester's Roman Fort, Cumbria

As there were lots of horses and men housed at this fort a good source of water was obviously imperative, the North River Tyne is right on the edge of the camp and if you look across the river in the middle of the photo you’ll see some of the remains of the bridge abutment.

Bridge Abutment , North Tyne River, Cumbria

Chester's fort Bridge Info board stitch

It’s an interesting place to visit if you find yourself in that area, there seem to be Roman remains all over. This fort is in a particularly scenic location but I can’t help feeling sorry for the 500 or so Spanish cavalry soldiers who inhabited this camp, they must have been frozen to the bone in winter – or maybe even in summer!