Vinovia (Binchester) was a Roman auxiliary fort on Dere Street, the principal Roman road north from York to Hadrian's Wall and beyond, controlling the crossing of the River Wear in County Durham. Founded c. A.D. 79 under Agricola, it remained in use through the 4th century and into the early post-Roman period, with the standing stone fort covering around 3.6 hectares (9 acres) at its largest extent. Garrisons included the Ala Vettonum, a Spanish cavalry regiment, attested epigraphically in the 2nd–3rd centuries.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Vinovia was the largest Roman fort in County Durham and a key node on Dere Street, serving both military and civilian functions, with a substantial vicus growing up around it. It is particularly significant for evidence of continuity into the 5th century, suggesting Binchester remained an occupied centre after the formal end of Roman administration.
Excavations, including major campaigns by Durham University and Stanford from 2009–2014, have revealed an exceptionally well-preserved bath-house and hypocaust system of the commanding officer's residence, along with altars to Aesculapius and the Matres. Later phases produced a remarkable Anglo-Saxon-period rubbish deposit overlying the bath-house, along with butchery waste and metalworking evidence indicating intensive sub-Roman activity rarely documented at northern forts.
Vinovia (Binchester) was a Roman auxiliary fort on Dere Street, the principal Roman road north from York to Hadrian's Wall and beyond, controlling the crossing of the River Wear in County Durham. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Vinovia 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 Old Durham (13.6 km), Piercebridge (15.6 km), Piercebridge Roman Bridge (15.7 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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