PETUARIA
or Pretorium, or Decuaria (Brough-on-Humber) Yorkshire, England.
On the N bank of
the Humber 56 km N of Lindum at a point probably
serviced by a ferry. It is mentioned by Ptolemy (
Geog.
2.3.17). The
Antonine Itinerary refers to it as Pretorium
(464.1; 466.4), and the
Ravenna Cosmography to Decuaria. In the
Notitia Dignitatum (
occ. 40.31) a unit takes
its name from the site. Further evidence for the name is
provided by an inscription (
RIB 707) dated to A.D. 140-144.
A fort of ca. 1.8 ha and a supply base were established here ca. A.D. 70, and the latter was maintained after
the fort was evacuated some 10 years later. The fort
was briefly reoccupied ca. A.D. 125. On its abandonment,
new earthwork fortifications were erected on different
alignments to enclose a much larger area, and were
probably connected with a naval base. The harbor was
in the adjacent Brough Haven. It is not known if the
vicus of the inscription, referred to above, was also included within this area. The vicus was probably the civitas capital of the Parisi, and the same inscription records the presence of a theater there. No public building has
been identified, however, and those buildings which have
been excavated are not typical of town houses. Furthermore, the later history of the site suggests a continuation
of naval or military occupation. Consequently the vicus,
although its 2d c. existence cannot be doubted, remains
an enigma.
No later than the early 3d c. the fortifications were
rebuilt on yet another alignment; turf was used for the
rampart, and the gates were of timber. Much rebuilding
also took place within the enclosure. About A.D. 270 work
began on a stone wall, 2.4 m thick, intended to reinforce
the front of the rampart. An interruption occurred before it was completed, and when work was resumed the
plans were modified to include external bastions and
gate-towers; this new scheme was completed by the early
4th c. It seems likely that the garrison then included
the numerus supervenientium Petuerensium. A rise in
sea level soon after A.D. 350 not only silted up the harbor
but also destroyed the SW defenses, and the naval base
was given up. The numerus was then transferred to Derventium (Malton). Only an ephemeral occupation, probably of civilian character, remained.
Nothing of the site is now visible. In 1933-37 the E
defenses, the NE corner, and the E gate were uncovered, also a number of internal buildings, and the theater
inscription. In 1958-61 the N and W gates, the SE corner and the N and W defenses were identified. The position of the early fort was revealed. Many finds from the early excavations were destroyed during WW II; the
remainder are in Hull Museum, Yorkshire.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
P. Corder & I. A. Richmond,
Journal
of the British Archaeological Association 3 ser., 7 (1942)
5.34
MPI; J. S. Wacher, Excavations at Brough-on-Humber, 1958-61 (1969)
MPI; id., in R. M. Butler, ed.,
Soldier and Civilian in Roman Yorkshire (1971) 166-67
P; id.,
The Towns of Roman Britain (1974) 393.97
MPI.
J. S. WACHER
