CORSTOPITUM
(Corbridge) Northumberland, England.
On the river Tyne 28 km W of Newcastle,
0.8 km W of Corbridge village, 4 km S of Hadrian's Wall
(NY 983647). Bridgehead site on the N bank of the
river, where the Roman road from York into Scotland
(Dere Street) met the road W to Carlisle (the Stanegate).
The name is as given in the
Antonine Itinerary. It is
apparently not Celtic, and may be corrupt—if not pre-Celtic. The Roman occupation lasted from the Flavian
period to ca. A.D. 410 or perhaps later in the 5th c.
The earliest permanent occupation probably dates to
Agricola's second campaign (A.D. 79). It was a timber
fort with turf ramparts of ca. 2.8 ha, and cavalry were
probably included in its garrison (
RIB 1172). This fort,
after some slight modification, was destroyed by fire ca.
A.D. 105, and replaced by a fort of ca. 2.5 ha, also with
timber buildings and turf ramparts. Rebuilt for a short
occupation under Hadrian (probably in the earliest stages
of the occupation of Hadrian's Wall, ca. A.D. 122-125),
the fort was reoccupied in 139 (
RIB 1147) in support of
the advance of Lollius Urbicus into Scotland. It was garrisoned (probably by auxiliaries) until ca. A.D. 160, and
its timber buildings (but not its ramparts) progressively
replaced by stone. The headquarters building and commander's house, both of stone, are still visible.
Some military buildings remained in use after A.D. 160.
The granaries were rebuilt and reused during the Severan
campaigns of A.D. 209 and 210 (
RIB 1143, 1151) and
were probably still in use in the 4th c. They are still
visible N of the E-W road (the via principalis). But the
construction of temples (still visible) was permitted within the former fort area, S of the E-W road. A large square
monumental building of uncertain purpose (still visible)
was planned and begun E of the granaries, probably in
the late 2d c., but was never finished. Its S range was
later converted into shops, facing on the road.
Also probably in the second half of the 2d c., two
military compounds (still visible) were constructed S
of the E-W road, on either side of what had been the
via praetoria of the fort, ingeniously fitting in behind,
but not disturbing, the existing temples. Each compound,
garrisoned by a legionary detachment (
RIB 1154), had
its own headquarters building, the W one with an underground strongroom, still visible. There was iron working in the W compound, probably to supply units stationed along the Wall. A water channel, probably of 3d
c. date, supplied an ornamental fountain E of the granaries. The two compounds were combined, perhaps at
the beginning of the 4th c., and military occupation of
the compounds and granaries apparently continued to
the end of the Roman period.
Outside the fort area, a large early bath house and
a later mausoleum have been excavated some distance
to the W. To the S, between the fort area and the river,
a large corridor house with ornamental pool (embellished
with a vigorous piece of sculpture, the Corbridge Lion,
now in the museum on the site), perhaps an official rest
house or mansio, lay near the road from the bridge.
None of these outlying buildings can now be seen, nor
can the shops and houses of the town that grew up
around the site (an area of ca. 14 ha, perhaps eventually enclosed by a rampart and ditches).
While the fort was still garrisoned the settlement must
have been an important market center, a role it continued to fill to the end of the Roman period. The presence
of legionaries probably gave the site a more sophisticated
character than that of most frontier settlements, accentuated by the activities of merchants and others from as
far away as Phoenicia (
RIB 1124, 1129) and Palmyra
(
RIB 1171). Cults attested include those of the local
Apollo Maponus (
RIB 1120-22) and the Syrian Jupiter
Dolichenus (
RIB 1131), with only slight evidence of
Christianity. Stones from the site were reused in the
church (tower arch) and other buildings in Anglo-Saxon
and mediaeval Corbridge, and in the 8th c. church at
Hexham (
RIB 1120, 1122, 1151, 1169, and 1172 are still
to be seen in Hexham Priory).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Research to 1958: E. Birley,
Arch. Ael.
37 (1959) 8-12. Religious cults: I. A. Richmond, ibid. 21
(1943) 149-214. Christianity: ibid. 43 (1965) 214-23.
1st & 2d c.: J. P. Gillam, ibid. 37 (1959) 59-84; 49
(1971) 1-28. Bath house: C. M. Daniels, ibid. 37 (1959)
85-176. Mausoleum: J. P. Gillam & C. M. Daniels, ibid.
39 (1961) 37-61. Civilian life: P. Salway,
The Frontier
People of Roman Britain (1965) esp. 45-60. Bridge: D.
Bourne,
Arch. Ael. 45 (1967) 17-26. Hoard of legionary
armor: C. M. Daniels, ibid. 46 (1968) 115-26. Guidebook: B. Birley,
Guide to Corstopitum (1954).
A military site was found in 1974 at NY 970651, 1.3
km W of the visible site. This clearly represents the earliest (Agricolan) occupation, contemporary with the bath.
J. C. MANN