Bravoniacum was a Roman auxiliary fort at Kirkby Thore in the Eden Valley, Cumbria, sited on the main Roman road between Brougham (Brocavum) and Carlisle, with a branch road running east to Bowes via Stainmore. Likely founded in the Flavian period (c. AD 70s) during the conquest of northern Britain, it remained in use through much of the Roman occupation, with the Notitia Dignitatum listing a Numerus Defensorum stationed there in the late 4th century.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The fort controlled a strategically important junction on the Stainmore route across the Pennines, linking the Eden Valley garrisons with the forts protecting the trans-Pennine corridor. An extensive associated vicus developed around the fort, making Kirkby Thore one of the larger Roman settlement complexes in the region.
The fort itself has been largely obscured by the modern village and the A66, but antiquarian observations, later excavations, and geophysical survey have identified its outline, the surrounding vicus, cemeteries, and a bathhouse, with finds including altars, inscriptions, samian and coarse pottery, coins, and metalwork. Notable epigraphic finds include altars to Belatucadrus and other deities, suggesting a mixed military and civilian religious community.
Bravoniacum was a Roman auxiliary fort at Kirkby Thore in the Eden Valley, Cumbria, sited on the main Roman road between Brougham (Brocavum) and Carlisle, with a branch road running east to Bowes via Stainmore. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Brav(o)niacum is classified as a Roman fort — a military site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Kirkby Thore Roman Fort and Associated Vicus (0.5 km), Roman milestone, 180m north west of Spitals (2 km), Roman camp, 350m east of Redlands Bank (2.3 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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