Longovicium was an auxiliary fort on Dere Street, the main Roman road running north from York to Hadrian's Wall and beyond. Built around AD 150 under Antoninus Pius, it was a substantial stone-built fort of approximately 2.5 hectares (6 acres), garrisoned at various times by units including the Cohors I Lingonum Gordiana and the Cohors I Vardullorum, with occupation continuing into the late 4th century.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The fort guarded a key stretch of Dere Street between Vinovia (Binchester) and Vindomora (Ebchester) and controlled the surrounding upland landscape, with a sizeable extramural vicus attesting to its role as a local economic and social centre. Inscriptions record significant building and repair work in the early 3rd century, suggesting it was a garrison of continuing strategic importance during the Severan period.
The fort's earthworks remain visible as one of the better-preserved upstanding fort sites in County Durham, with ramparts, ditches, and the outline of internal buildings discernible. Excavations and antiquarian finds have produced numerous altars and inscriptions (including dedications to Garmangabis, a Germanic goddess, reflecting the unit's origins), a bath-house southeast of the fort, and evidence of the vicus, though no large-scale modern open-area excavation has been published.
Longovicium was an auxiliary fort on Dere Street, the main Roman road running north from York to Hadrian's Wall and beyond. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Lanchester Roman fort (Longovicium) 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 Untitled (0.5 km), Longovicium (0.5 km), Remains of Roman aqueduct (1.3 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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Research the area around Lanchester Roman fort (Longovicium)