Coggabata, or Congavata / Concavata, (with the modern name of Drumburgh) was a Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall, between Aballava (Burgh by Sands) to the east and Mais (Bowness-on-Solway) to the west. It was built on a hill commanding views over the flatter land to the east and west and to the shore of the Solway Firth to the north. Its purpose was to guard the southern end of two important Solway fords, the Stonewath and the Sandwath.
The Notitia Dignitatum gives the name of the fort as 'Congavata', but the Staffordshire Moorlands Pan gives the name as 'Coggabata'.
The fort was an oblong and built of stone, with the Wall running along its northern side, and measured 270 feet (82 m) north to south by 316 feet (96 m) east to west, occupying an area of just less than 2 acres (8,100 m2). The Wall at this point is nine feet seven inches wide, and is made of stone. It was constructed on the foundations of the levelled Turf Wall. There were gates on each side, with the north gate giving access beyond the wall.
A Roman road has been proved by LIDAR photography to have linked Coggabata with the nearby Roman fort at Kirkbride to the south-west.
There is a pele tower, Drumburgh Castle (shown above right), lying across the line of the north wall of the fort, built entirely of Roman stones.
The Notitia Dignitatum gives the garrison as the Second Cohort of Lingones but only a detachment could be accommodated in such a small fort.
The site was excavated in 1899, when the stone fort was revealed. A buttressed granary was found within the north-west angle of the fort.
Excavations in 1947 revealed that the stone fort had been built within a slightly larger fort whose clay ramparts had been levelled. It is presumed that the earthwork fort had been added to the initial Turf Wall version of Hadrian's Wall in Cumbria, and that the stone fort replaced it when the Turf Wall was re-built in stone. This would date the stone fort to about 160 AD.
J. Collingwood Bruce, Roman Wall (1863), Harold Hill & Son, ISBN 0-900463-32-5
Frank Graham, The Roman Wall, Comprehensive History and Guide (1979), Frank Graham, ISBN 0-85983-140-X
iRomans website showing Coggabata objects in the Tullie House Museum collection in Carlisle
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Coggabata, or Congavata / Concavata, (with the modern name of Drumburgh) was a Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall, between Aballava (Burgh by Sands) to the east and Mais (Bowness-on-Solway) to the west. 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.
Aubrey Research generates detailed historical reports for any location in Britain, incorporating Roman heritage, Domesday Book records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and much more. Enter a nearby address to begin.
This page covers the Roman site at Congavata. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this site alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any address in Britain, drawing on Roman heritage, Domesday records, scheduled monument data and medieval history to reveal the complete story of a landscape.
Research the area around Congavata