Battlefields›Roman fort at Risingham (Habitancum): garrison skirmishes
Roman Period

Roman fort at Risingham (Habitancum): garrison skirmishes

180
Northumberland, England
Era
Roman Period
Battle Type
Skirmish
Location
Northumberland, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Northern tribes / raiders
VS
Victor
Romans (garrison, until eventual abandonment)
Outcome
Outpost fort north of Hadrian's Wall on Dere Street, garrisoned successively by Cohors IV Gallorum, Cohors I Vangionum, exploratores and Raeti Gaesati; repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt (c. 197, late 3rd century, 343 AD) before final destruction c. 368 AD and abandonment in the 4th century, consistent with sustained pressure from northern tribes.
The Battle

History & Significance

Roman fort at Risingham (Habitancum): garrison skirmishes was a Roman skirmish, fought at Northumberland, England in 180. Romans (garrison, until eventual abandonment) prevailed over Northern tribes / raiders. Outpost fort north of Hadrian's Wall on Dere Street, garrisoned successively by Cohors IV Gallorum, Cohors I Vangionum, exploratores and Raeti Gaesati; repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt (c. 197, late 3rd century, 343 AD) before final destruction c. 368 AD and abandonment in the 4th century, consistent with sustained pressure from northern tribes.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Roman fort at Risingham (Habitancum): garrison skirmishes 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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Monuments
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Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
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
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
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Literature
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Roman fort at Risingham (Habitancum): garrison skirmishes

Low Cleughs Bastle, 580m NNE of Low Leam Farm
Low Cleughs Bastle, 580m NNE of Low Leam Farm
Scheduled monument · ~1.9 mi

Low Cleughs Bastle is a defensible farmstead of late medieval date situated in the Northumberland borderlands. The structure belongs to the bastle-house tradition characteristic of the Anglo-Scottish border region, where fortified domestic buildings provided protection against raiding during the…

Pete Saunders / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Prehistoric settlement, funerary and agricultural remains, 650m south of South Monkridge Bridge
Prehistoric settlement, funerary and agricultural remains, 650m south of South Monkridge Bridge
Scheduled monument · ~2.2 mi

Prehistoric settlement, funerary and agricultural remains, 650m south of South Monkridge Bridge is a Bronze Age and Iron Age monument complex located in Northumberland. The site comprises settlement structures, burial features, and field systems that reflect patterns of habitation and land use du…

Habitancum Roman fort and medieval settlement
Habitancum Roman fort and medieval settlement
Scheduled monument · ~2.4 mi

Habitancum is a Roman auxiliary fort located near Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, England. The fort was established during the second century AD as part of the military infrastructure supporting the Wall and served as a garrison for auxiliary troops responsible for frontier defence and control…

Pete Saunders / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Fishponds, 200m south west of Townfoot Farm
Fishponds, 200m south west of Townfoot Farm
Scheduled monument · ~2.6 mi

Fishponds, located 200 metres south-west of Townfoot Farm in Northumberland, is a series of medieval or post-medieval artificial water features. The site comprises a sequence of earthwork ponds constructed to manage water flow and likely served agricultural or manorial purposes common to the medi…

Medieval cross, 150m west of Woodburnhill Farm
Medieval cross, 150m west of Woodburnhill Farm
Scheduled monument · ~3 mi

Medieval cross is a wayside cross located approximately 150 metres west of Woodburnhill Farm in Northumberland. The monument dates to the medieval period and represents a form of Christian monument commonly erected along routes and at significant locations throughout northern England during the M…

Mike Rayner / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
'Robin of Risingham' Roman Rock Carving
'Robin of Risingham' Roman Rock Carving
Scheduled monument · ~3.1 mi

Robin of Risingham Roman Rock Carving is a rock art panel located in Northumberland, England, carved into natural stone and bearing Roman-period imagery. The carving dates to the Romano-British period and represents an important example of rock art from the Roman occupation of northern Britain. T…

Leanmeanmo / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Romano-British farmstead 850m south of Troughend
Scheduled monument · ~1.2 miles
Romano-British farmstead on Wood Hill 800m north west of Old Town Cottages
Scheduled monument · ~1.5 miles
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