Gents Mag 1907 part 1 p.174
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Gentleman's Magazine 1907 part 1 p.174
list, road ends at Ravenglass, a tiny village now, but in those far-off days an important military port where very likely troops were landed for the great headqtrs of the Roman army at York. It is conjectured that this camp is identicial with Maia, a station whose situation is judged to probably to be in south-west Cumberland. Of the actual history of the camp little is known. It is mentioned by Camden, who suggests that though it may be a castle, it is possibly the remains of some church or chapel. It is also mentioned in "Hutchinson's History of Cumberland," and other works, but it was not systematically explored till 1889, when Mr. H. Swainson-Cowper, F.S.A., began the work of excavation by clearing the north tower. Sir Herbert Maxwell, in 1890 and 1891, continued the work thus begun, and a regular system of continuous operations was adopted in 1892 by the late Rev. W. S. Calverly, F.S.A., with Mr. Dymond, F.S.A., as engineer and surveyor. They found much of great interest, tracing out the shape of the fort and determining its materials, and the relics enshrouded by its debris. The fort itself is almosts square in shape with four gates and a tower at each angle, N., S., E. and W., each being about twelve feet square. The north tower is the highest of these, and commands a magnificent view up the valley of the Upper Esk away to Sca Fell, and also down to the sea, in which on clear days the Isle of Man is visible. The walls were originally built of the granite stone of the neighbourhood, but the angles were made of dressed red sandstone, which must have been brought from at least ten or eleven miles away. Mortar was used; it can be seen in the walls if carefully looked for. The walls were about five feet in thickness. The porta principalis sinistra (the gate on the north-east side) has a road which leads to the Parade Ground, some six hundred feet beyond the fort. The Parade Ground is nearly three acres in extent; the boulders have been cleared away, and it has been roughly levelled for the |
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