Lagentium or Legiolum was the Roman name for the fort and surrounding civilian settlement which was built around the year 74 by the Roman Empire. The English town of Castleford, West Yorkshire, is now built on what was the fort.
The name Lagentium may be of Brittonic origin. The name may involve the element lagīnā-, with connotations of "spear" and "blade", with the suffix -tjo- affixed. Andrew Breeze revived the proffering that Lagentium was based on an ethnic name.
Around this time, the Romans first fought the Brigantes, who occupied most of what is now Yorkshire and the North East, along with parts of Lancashire. The Romans named this new settlement Lagentium. They built a turf and timber fort sometime in the early 70s to guard the river crossings and the vital road to the north. The fort was built on either a natural ridge or a man-made mound, we are not certain. The Roman engineers chose Lagentium for its strongly strategic position. The mound offered a strong and clear vantage point, and the river offered a source of water and food. The low crossing point also had the advantage that both sides of the river could be farmed on. So a fort was built on top of a Brigantian settlement. Over the sixty years since the fort was built, permanent shops and gardens were built, and traders began to arrive.
The fort was garrisoned for 24 years by the Roman army, to keep the Brigantes under control. The Romans simply believed that the Brigantes were 'barbarians', but peace was eventually established and the troops were moved to the north. The Brigantes were not the most advanced of British Tribes, but the few Brigantes that did accept Roman law were allowed to experience greatly enhanced living conditions, under the watchful eye of the Romans.
Around 43, a road known as Ermine Street ran from the south to the north, but the Romans had to cross the Humber estuary to get to the other side of the road. The estuary was two miles wide, and the river had raging currents, and was subject to strong winds, making any crossing very difficult. Also, the Romans were not keen sailors, so this route north was not appropriate. So the Romans built another road, locally known as Roman Ridge and often considered a branch of Dere Street or Watling Street, with numerous forts strategically positioned along it. Lagentium, along with what is now Littleborough, Bawtry, Tadcaster and Doncaster, was one of these forts.
The fort built in Castleford shared many of the luxuries of any Roman settlement. In the vicus (a settlement just outside the fort) there were temples, houses, shops, alehouses (public house), public bathhouses and brothels. Many other improvements were made to Lagentium, including straight metalled roads, rectangular stone buildings with tiled roofs and glazed windows; the houses had drains and sometimes central heating.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Lagentium or Legiolum was the Roman name for the fort and surrounding civilian settlement which was built around the year 74 by the Roman Empire. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Lagentium 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 Roman Bath House, Castleford (0.2 km), Stanley Ferry aqueduct (7.5 km), Roman Fort and Associated Features 150m South-West of Standing Flat Bridge (10.2 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 Lagentium. 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 Lagentium