I recently visited Birdoswald Roman Fort (known as Banna) along the western end of Hadrian's Wall. This is one of the best-preserved forts along the wall and is open to the public, maintained by English Heritage. The fort is built on a hill and has views from all sides over the valleys and a river, so it was the prime location for a fort. The name of the fort was 'Banna' in Roman times, and this translates to "horn" in Celtic, which describes the shape of the site. It was occupied in 114-400AD primarily by Roman workers from foreign lands (called auxilaries) who had yet to gain Roman citizenship and were from the wider empire. Those stationed here were from Romania.
The fort is not completely escavated and most of it remains below soil. However, some of the walls and the outlines of some buildings can be seen. These include the usual barracks, commander house, public buildings, and granaries for storage of food. The fort also had its own exercise building, which was rare and possibly demonstrates that the land was exposed to the elements and required an indoor room for exercise.
The site began escavations in the early 1900s with slow progress. Most escavations were more recent. The farmhouse located on the site is of more recent design and houses a small museum about the Roman wall, the army, and a few artefacts discovered on site. The farmhouse was built to withstand thieves who did target the house; a ladder could be drawn up to protect valuables inside the house if it was sieged.
Barracks
Museum
The walls would have been three storeys high where built up. Earlier turf walls remain as the Romans used the natural landscape for defense and also dug ditches on the other side of the wall to slow down any enemies who sought to attack.
east gate
The fortress had three main gates, and the remains of all of these can be seen. The east gate is the best preserved gate into the fortress.
south gate
Outside the east gate are spectacular views over the valley. Right outside the gate is a device that can be tapped or lightly struck with a stone to make music with each bell producing a different pitched tone. This was a nice touch to make the area magical.
The hillside has since eroded away from when the Romans were here 2000 years ago. Some buildings, including a bath house, were thought to have eroded into the valley. The cemetary outside the walls was also left exposed, and the ground was stabilised to prevent further erosion of the site. At this time, some of the urns were discovered and are now in the museum.
Burial urns
The old Roman wall follows the site outside the fort, and it can be followed for miles and is an attractive stretch of wall.
In the photograph below, the wall is located to the right with a modern wall in the foreground.
Since much of Birdoswald (or Banna) remains covered, I am sure that there are many more treasures hidden below the surface.
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