Congavata is generally identified with the fort at Drumburgh, the smallest of the Hadrian's Wall forts, situated on a low hill overlooking the Solway marshes between Burgh-by-Sands (Aballava) and Bowness-on-Solway (Maia). Built in stone in the later 2nd century (replacing an earlier turf-and-timber phase associated with the original Wall construction under Hadrian, c. AD 122–130), it covered only about 0.8 ha and remained in use into the 4th century, as indicated by its inclusion in the Notitia Dignitatum, which lists the Cohors II Lingonum here.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Its location guarded the southern end of an important fording point across the Solway Firth, a known route for raiders, making it a key surveillance post on the western, vulnerable end of the Wall. Despite its small garrison, it formed part of the integrated Wall system linking the auxiliary forts with the milefortlets and towers continuing down the Cumbrian coast.
The site has seen limited modern excavation; antiquarian observation and small-scale work (notably by F.G. Simpson in the early 20th century) confirmed the stone fort plan and produced evidence of its sequence, while much of its dressed stone was robbed in the medieval period for Drumburgh Castle, which sits atop the site. Aerial photography and geophysics have helped clarify the layout, but the interior remains poorly understood compared
Congavata is generally identified with the fort at Drumburgh, the smallest of the Hadrian's Wall forts, situated on a low hill overlooking the Solway marshes between Burgh-by-Sands (Aballava) and Bowness-on-Solway (Maia). It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Congavata 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 Milecastle 76 (Drumburgh) (0.2 km), Turret 76A (Drumburgh) (0.3 km), Drumburgh Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall between Burgh Marsh and Westfield House in wall miles 76 and 77 (0.9 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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