Lavatris (modern Bowes, County Durham) was an auxiliary fort guarding the eastern approach to the Stainmore Pass, the principal Roman route across the northern Pennines linking the Eden Valley with the Tees lowlands. Founded under the Flavians, probably in the 70s AD as part of Agricola's or Cerialis's northern campaigns, it was rebuilt in stone in the 2nd century and remained in occupation, with interruptions, into the 4th century. The Notitia Dignitatum records the Numerus Exploratorum garrisoned here in the later Roman period.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The fort's importance was overwhelmingly strategic: it controlled the Stainmore road (the route between York/Catterick and Carlisle) in conjunction with the fortlets and signal stations strung along the pass (Maiden Castle, Rey Cross, Bowes Moor). It anchored the eastern end of one of the most heavily militarised trans-Pennine corridors in Britain.
The Norman castle of Bowes sits squarely within the Roman fort's defences, which preserve a clear playing-card outline of roughly 1.6 ha; excavations have identified the principia, a substantial bath-house outside the walls (excavated in the 19th century and again in the 1960s–70s), and inscriptions including a building stone of Hadrianic date and an altar mentioning the restoration of the bath-house under Virius L
Lavatris (modern Bowes, County Durham) was an auxiliary fort guarding the eastern approach to the Stainmore Pass, the principal Roman route across the northern Pennines linking the Eden Valley with the Tees lowlands. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Lavatris 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 Romano-British settlement site to the east and south-east of East Mellwaters farmhouse (2.5 km), Scargill Moors Roman shrines (3 km), Roman aqueduct, prehistoric field systems, cairnfield, enclosure and round cairn on Ravock (3.4 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.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any address in Britain — drawing on Roman heritage, Domesday records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and medieval history to reveal the complete story of a landscape.
Research the area around Lavatris