Uxelodunum (with the alternative Roman name of Petriana and the modern name of Stanwix Fort) was a Roman fort with associated civilian settlement (vicus) in modern-day Carlisle, Cumbria, England. It was the largest fort on Hadrian's Wall and is now buried beneath the suburb of Stanwix.
The fort was called Petrianis in the Notitia Dignitatum, but on the Ravenna Cosmography it is called Uxellodamo. On the Rudge Cup it is spelled VXELODVM. On the Amiens Skillet it is spelled VXELODVNVM. It is also spelled VXELODVNVM on the Staffordshire Moorlands Pan. The name Petrianis comes from the cohort that was stationed there, which appears to be a latinisation of a Celtic toponym thought to mean High Fort.
It is thus likely that the name Petriana was a scribal error which confused the fort's name and the occupying unit, and that the fort's true name was Uxelodunum.
In 122 the province was visited by Hadrian who started the building of the wall along the frontier slightly to the north of the Stanegate, the previous frontier. Uxelodunum fort was therefore built on the wall north of the river and within sight of the Luguvallum fort, as a small turf-and-timber fort with its northern rampart consisting of the original Turf Wall and its long axis parallel to the Wall. The Wall's vallum ditches behind the wall were placed close enough to leave sufficient space for the ramparts of this fort. The fort was later rebuilt in stone when the Wall was rebuilt likewise. Milecastle 65 was also built on the wall about 1 km northwest of the fort.
The fort was later considerably expanded to the north and west to accommodate the larger Ala Gallorum Petriana, the nominally 1,000-strong cavalry regiment, the sole cavalry regiment of this size in Britain, after the internal buildings had been demolished as well as the south-western and northern rampart walls. In extending north beyond the Wall, as required by a cavalry fort, the fort was pushed to the edge of the escarpment and it may also have extended to the south to the limit of the Vallum.
It was abandoned like the rest of the wall in about 138 before the Antonine Wall was built, but was rebuilt in stone in about 165 when Hadrian's Wall was reinstated as the frontier and locally also rebuilt in stone.
The fort is about 9 miles from Castlesteads (Camboglanna) and 6 miles east of Burgh by Sands (Aballava), the nearest forts on Hadrian's Wall. It stands on a natural platform above the River Eden and was intended to guard the Eden bridgehead and watch the important western route to Scotland.
The fort measured about 177 m north to south by 213 m east to west, covering approximately 9.32 acres (3.77 ha), much larger than the other wall forts. The later fort layout extended north beyond the Wall to allow the garrison to exit northwards through 3 wide gates. North of the wall the rampart was fronted by three ditches.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Uxelodunum (with the alternative Roman name of Petriana and the modern name of Stanwix Fort) was a Roman fort with associated civilian settlement (vicus) in modern-day Carlisle, Cumbria, England. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Uxelodu(nu)m 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 Turret 65B (0.1 km), Milecastle 66 (Stanwix Bank) (0.6 km), Carlisle Castle; medieval tower keep castle, two lengths of city wall, a 16th century battery, and part of an earlier Roman fort known as Luguvalium (1 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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