Battlefields›Late Roman defence of the Wall (post-383)
Roman Period

Late Roman defence of the Wall (post-383)

383
Northumberland, England
Era
Roman Period
Battle Type
Campaign
Location
Northumberland, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Roman Wall garrison
VS
Victor
Picts/Scots (increasingly, by default as Roman control receded)
Outcome
Repeated raiding after Magnus Maximus stripped the northern garrison of troops for his continental campaign (383); forts at Chester and elsewhere abandoned; further troop withdrawals followed barbarian incursions of 396 and the 401 withdrawal to fight Alaric; Hadrian's Wall was effectively abandoned by around 400-410 as Roman military presence in Britain ended.
The Battle

History & Significance

Late Roman defence of the Wall (post-383) was a Roman campaign, fought in the area of Northumberland, England in 383. Picts/Scots (increasingly, by default as Roman control receded) prevailed over Roman Wall garrison. Repeated raiding after Magnus Maximus stripped the northern garrison of troops for his continental campaign (383); forts at Chester and elsewhere abandoned; further troop withdrawals followed barbarian incursions of 396 and the 401 withdrawal to fight Alaric; Hadrian's Wall was effectively abandoned by around 400-410 as Roman military presence in Britain ended.

The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Late Roman defence of the Wall (post-383) lies on Yoredale Group, bedrock that formed in the Bashkirian. The rock here is limestone, argillaceous rocks and subordinate sandstone, interbedded.

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Roman Britain
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Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
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Local Names
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Literature
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Late Roman defence of the Wall (post-383)

Enclosed cremation cemetery and shieling 990m north of Gibbs Hill Farm
Enclosed cremation cemetery and shieling 990m north of Gibbs Hill Farm
Scheduled monument · ~0.5 mi

This enclosed cremation cemetery and shieling is a Bronze Age funerary and pastoral site located in Northumberland, approximately 990 metres north of Gibbs Hill Farm. The monument comprises both a cremation cemetery, indicating ritual burial practices typical of the Bronze Age period, and a shiel…

Andrew Curtis / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Hadrian's Wall and associated features between the field boundary west of turret 37a and the road to Steel Rigg car park in wall miles 37, 38 and 39
Hadrian's Wall and associated features between the field boundary west of turret 37a and the road to Steel Rigg car park in wall miles 37, 38 and 39
Scheduled monument · ~1.5 mi

Hadrian's Wall between turret 37a and the Steel Rigg car park road is a scheduled ancient monument comprising stretches of the stone wall, ditch, and associated military infrastructure dating to the second century AD. This section lies within wall miles 37, 38 and 39 of the frontier system constr…

David Slater / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Stone circle, defended settlement, Romano-British farmstead and field system, Roman camp and group of shielings immediately south of Greenlee Lough
Stone circle, defended settlement, Romano-British farmstead and field system, Roman camp and group of shielings immediately south of Greenlee Lough
Scheduled monument · ~1.9 mi

Stone circle, defended settlement, Romano-British farmstead and field system, Roman camp and group of shielings immediately south of Greenlee Lough is a complex palimpsest of archaeological remains spanning from prehistory through the post-medieval period, located in the upland landscape of North…

Mike Quinn / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Mare and Foal stone circle, 400m north east of Milestone House
Mare and Foal stone circle, 400m north east of Milestone House
Scheduled monument · ~2.4 mi

Mare and Foal stone circle is a Bronze Age monument located approximately four hundred metres north east of Milestone House in Northumberland. The site comprises a circle of standing stones typical of prehistoric ritual and ceremonial landscapes in northern England. Stone circles of this type are…

Mike Quinn / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the road to Caw Gap and the Caw Burn in wall miles 41 and 42
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the road to Caw Gap and the Caw Burn in wall miles 41 and 42
Scheduled monument · ~2.4 mi

Hadrian's Wall is a fortified linear barrier constructed in the 2nd century AD under the Roman Emperor Hadrian to mark and defend the north-western frontier of the Roman Empire across northern Britain. The section between Caw Gap and Caw Burn in wall miles 41 and 42, situated in Northumberland, p…

n/a / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Cawfields Roman temporary camp
Cawfields Roman temporary camp
Scheduled monument · ~2.5 mi

Cawfields Roman temporary camp is a first-century Roman military encampment situated near Haltwhistle in Northumberland, positioned along the Stanegate frontier road. The camp is characterized by its defensive ditches and ramparts, which remain visible as earthwork features across the landscape,…

Sebastian Mierzwa / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Roman aqueduct to Great Chesters from the Cawburn
Scheduled monument · ~0.7 miles
Hadrian's Wall, associated features and a Romano-British settlement between the road to Steel Rigg car park and the road through Caw Gap in wall miles 39 to 41
Scheduled monument · ~1.4 miles
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In the same landscape

Battles near Late Roman defence of the Wall (post-383)

Northern Raid on Hadrian's Wall, 155 AD
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~1.2 miles away
Great Conspiracy of 367 AD
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The Barbarian Conspiracy: Picts Breach Hadrian's Wall, 367 AD
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