CASTRA EXPLORATORUM
(Netherby) Cumberland, England.
Site of an outpost fort N of
Hadrian's Wall and 16 km N of Carlisle, perhaps also
a port on the river Esk (NY 396716). The name castra
exploratorum appears in the
Antonine Itinerary; the place
name is unknown. The site lies under Netherby House.
A fort was built here under Hadrian (
RIB 974), but
nothing is known of its size or 2d c. garrison. In the 3d c.
it was garrisoned by Cohors I Aelia Hispanorum (apparently assigned to Uxellodunum in the
Notitia Dignitatum), and presumably also by a unit of scouts. An
external bath house was discovered in 1732, but nothing
is now visible. Finds take the occupation down to the
mid 3d c., but lack of excavation makes it uncertain how
long it lasted after that.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
E. Birley,
Trans. Cumberland and Westmorland Arch. and Ant. Soc. 53 (1953) 6-39; id.,
Research on Hadrian's Wall (1961) 229-30.
J. C. MANN