Risingham. Habitancum. Roman Fort. Coins etc found AD1840.
[NY 89098616] Wall (Remains of)
Baths (Site of) Excavated AD1840 [NY 89108616]. (1)
Habitancum. The only known reference to the Roman name of this fort occurs on an altar said to have been found in the river to its north. The fort had four occupation phases.
The only relic of the first, Antonine, phase so far found is a layer of ashes and 2nd century sherds covered by the west rampart of the existing fort.(a) A sculptured slab attests a garrison of the 4th Mounted Cohort of Gauls, about 500 men of whom 120 were mounted, (b) and the size of the regiment indicates that the fort must have occupied about 3 acres. This Antonine structure was probably destroyed during the invasion of northern tribes following the failure of Albinus's continental adventures in AD197. It is not clear whether the fort was destroyed while occupied or after evacuation but the preservation of monumental inscriptions may be taken as suggesting a tidy evacuation, since such symbols of Roman dominion seem to have been marked out for particular destruction.
About AD205-8 a Severan fort was built on the same site as the Antonine fort but the defences did not follow the same lines. (a) [This is difficult to understand as apparently no lines of the Antonine defences were traced]. The fortifications occupied all available space on a low knoll and formed a rectangle, 402ft x 482ft, with rounded angles. The work was done, as is recorded on an inscribed slab, by the 1st Mounted Cohort of Vangiones, 1000 strong. The fort
seems to have been very small for a garrison of this size. The defences are among the most remarkable in Britain as they were carried out in a local sandstone of particularly fine grain and obtainable in exceptionally large blocks. The walls were 5ft 9ins thick supported upon a foundation of cobbling set in clay and a massive chamfered plinth. (a) The coursed masonry is uniformly 16ins high and some blocks are as large as 4ft long. Behind the rubble wall lay a clay
bank about 30ft thick intended to carry a lower walk behind the parapet walk of the stone wall. There were angle towers, indicated today by large masses of ruins and by feather broached facing stones. The only gateway of this period which is known is the south gate which was defended by projecting towers. A north gate was seen by Hodgson in 1832 but is no longer visible and its period cannot therefore be ascertained.
The only internal building known is the bath-house in the south-east angle of the fort, which was excavated in 1839-42 by Richard Shanks. (c)
At the close of the 3rd century the defeat of Allectus gave the northern tribes another opportunity to invade. A layer of levelled rubbish, 18 inches thick, overlying the burnt floors of the Severan buildings is evidence that Habitancum was overrun at this time. The work of reconstruction was undertaken without delay by Constantius and building was complete by AD306. The east tower of the south gate was probably rebuilt at this period and possibly the east wall also, though this may have been done later. A west gate was cut in the Severan wall and flanked by towers; it served as a 'Porta Praetoria' leading to the centre of a newly built headquarters. This building was partly excavated in 1840 and was evidently a cross-hall and regimental chapel. Another relic of this phase is an undated tombstone identified by Haverfield as a Christian monument. (d) This Constantian fort perished in flames, probably during the Pict War of AD343, as is attested by the red calcined threshold of the west gate but was rebuilt and reoccupied for long enough to induce heavy wear upon the floors and thresholds.
The dating of this final occupation depends on comparative material. The relics recovered at Habitancum were so meagre as to permit no precise conclusion on the matter of a terminal date. But at Bewcastle where the late phase was similar, the evidence of pottery makes it quite certain that occupation was not prolonged beyond AD367. (e)
Habitancum was probably destroyed finally, in the great Pictish raids of AD367-9.
Eighteen altars and seven dedication stone were found in and around the fort. One of the altars (no 1225) contained a reference to the name of the fort as did one of the dedication slabs (no 1235). (2)(3)
At the junction of the causeway, leading from the west gate [of Habitancum], and Dere Street, there has been a building of some kind. (4)
[Photographs of Plans of Habitancum. See p5]. (5)
Scheduled Ancient Monument. (6)
The situation, as described in (?) is approximately 430ft above OD. With the exception of a fragment in the north east corner the walls of the fort have been completely robbed of facing stones, leaving the backing of earth and rubble. The interior of the fort is raised above outside
ground level giving the earth and rubble bank a height of from 0.5m to 1.2m internally and from 2.5m to 3.5m externally. The four ditches are visible on the west and south sides but have been mutilated by ridge and furrow ploughing.
The west and south gates are represented by gaps in the rampart, with associated causeways across the ditches. The enlarged terminals of the bank are the only visible traces of the flanking towers of these two entrances. There is no certain trace of a north gate but a narrow gap in the rampart and an adjoining rectangular steading may be indications of an entrance on this side.
The interior of the fort is very disturbed with depressions caused by surface quarrying, spoil heaps and fragments of stony banks. There are no surface traces of the baths in the south east corner of the fort. The only recognisable internal features remaining are those of the principia. These consist of a mutilated bank representing the north end of the cross hall, a depression on the site of the sacellum and a stone with a pivot hole. Lying near the central interval turret on the east side of the fort is a roughly dressed stone on one face of which are two small square recesses, possibly some form of pivot or dowel holes.
Lying immediately outside the west gate of the fort are several large stones, some with Roman broaching and one with a concave moulding.
The sites of angle and interval turrets are visible as a thickening of the earth and rubble rampart. No foundations are visible.
There is no trace of a building at the junction of the causeway from the west gate and Dere Street (13 refers), but 75m to the SSE and adjoining the probable course of the road is what is probably the steading of a small building. No evidence for dating but the proximity of the road suggests a possible Roman origin.
The fort, which is in generally good condition, is under pasture. It is situated on the farm called Broadgate.
There are no visible traces of the 2nd century fort mentioned in (2).
See cards 9 and 10 for ground photographs. (7)
Generally as described by F1, except that the remains of the principia are now unintelligible, while the sites of numerous other buildings can be discerned. The two pivot stones have apparently been removed from the site. Resurveyed at 1:2500.
The probable steading, noted by F1, adjoining the course of Dere Street consists of a fragmentary earthen bank, with no indications of stonework and must be considered very doubtful. (8)
Name 'HABITANCVM' accepted for 4th edition Roman Britain Map.
Grade I. Risingham, or Habitancum (Roman Station). Well known Roman fort. Very little remains above ground but there are considerable foundations etc. NCH vol 15. Scheduled as an Ancient Monument. (9)
The interior of the fort has not been ploughed. An air photograph by St Joseph shows a dense cluster of features inside the fort, as shadow marks. Some are the result of old unfilled excavations, but the rest may reflect a less regular building plan of the fourth century or even a later settlement within the walls. (10)
Habitancum, identified with the Roman Fort at Risingham. The archaeological evidence at present available suggests that the fort was not built until Antonine times, in the governorship of Q Ldlius Urbicus (AD 139-42) so that a landowner with a Roman name is quite possible. (11)
NY 890862. Corsenside. Habitancum, Roman fort, West Woodburn. Listed under Roman remains. Scheduled No 21. (12)
Inscription set up over south gate recording restoration of the fort in AD205-7. The Severan fort was built of large blocks of fine grained sandstone with chamfered plinth. Gate had projecting seven-sided gatetowers each side of a single portal. A bath-house is the only known internal building, excavated 1841-2. (13)
Twenty sculptured stones described from Habitancum. (14)
Habitancum Roman fort and medieval settlement. Scheduling revised on 10th May 1994, new national monument number 25038.
Habitancum Roman fort, also known as Risingham, is situated on a low knoll, surrounded by low ground, above the River Rede. Today, the fort appears as a classically rectangular shape with rounded corners measuring 135m north-west to south-east by 117m north-east to south-west within a substantial rampart and wall and with the remains of a medieval settlement within its walls. The visible remains at Habitancum are of a fort constructed in the early years of the third century AD by the Emperor Severus; an inscribed slab, uncovered by excavation, records the construction of the fort by a 1000 strong mounted cohort (one of the ten units of a Roman legion). The walls of the fort are substantial features up to 10m wide and standing to a height of 0.5 to 1.2m above the interior of the fort. The walls were constructed of large blocks of local sandstone infilled with rubble and earth. Most of the large facing stones have been removed leaving only the rubble infill. The wall is backed internally by a substantial earthen rampart. The fort is surrounded on all sides by medieval rig and furrow; it is thought that these rigs mask up to four Roman ditches which would have surrounded the fort walls. There are three gateways giving access to the interior of the fort; the west and south gates are represented by breaks in the wall and rampart 8m wide and are carried across the ditches on raised causeways 0.4m high. A gap in the centre of the northern rampart is thought to represent the site of a northern gateway. Such gateways would normally be flanked by small watch towers and it is thought that raised and slightly spread areas on either side of the west and south gateways are the buried remains of gate towers. The defensive circuit is furnished with small towers at each angle and at intervals along each of the fort walls: they are visible as grassed over mounds of masonry. A change in the course of the River Rede has eroded part of the northern wall including the north-west angle tower. Within the interior of the fort there are many traces of buildings, most of which appear as small rectangular and irregular enclosures and linear ditches; recent interpretation of these remains has indicated that the majority are the result of post-Roman re-occupation of the fort, the exact nature of which is uncertain.
A post-Roman settlement is mentioned at Risingham in a survey of 1604 when one Elizabeth Swan had a holding here. The last inhabitant, William Ridley, left his cottage in 1826. The remains of the internal Roman buildings are thought to lie beneath this later settlement; partial excavations in the 1840s revealed the layout of the bath house situated in the south-east angle of the fort and a headquarters building situated at the centre of the fort. Excavations also uncovered early second century pottery and evidence of burning beneath the present western rampart; this has been taken to suggest that the present visible remains resulted from the reconstruction of an earlier 2nd century fort built under the Emperor Antoninus Pius and probably destroyed during the invasions of northern tribes recorded in the late second century AD.
Habitancum Roman fort is very well preserved and retains significant archaeological deposits. It is important as an example of a garrison fort in the frontier zone throughout much of the Roman occupation and for its role in various Scottish campaigns. (15)