Old Cumbria Gazetteer - roman fort, Housesteads


	roman fort, Housesteads
	Vercovicium
site name:-	Hadrian's Wall
locality:-	Housesteads
county:-	Northumberland
locality type:-	roman fort
coordinates:-	NY789687
1Km square:-	NY7868
10Km square:-	NY76

evidence:-	old text:- Gents Mag placename:- Borcovicus placename:- Tadmoor of Britain item:- Notes of a Tour along the Roman Wall
source data:-	Magazine, The Gentleman's Magazine or Monthly Intelligencer or Historical Chronicle, published by Edward Cave under the pseudonym Sylvanus Urban, and by other publishers, London, monthly from 1731 to 1922. goto source Gentleman's Magazine 1851 part 2 p.503 "NOTES OF A TOUR ALONG THE ROMAN WALL." "BY CHARLES ROACH SMITH, F.S.A." "(Concluded from p.388.)" "HOUSESTEADS, the Roman Borcovicus, is one of the most interesting of the wall stations, and has deservedly been eulogised by Gordon and Stukeley, and described in its present state at considerable length by Mr. Bruce. Stukeley calls it "the Tadmoor of Britain." Its last historian, with more sober judgment, cautions the visitor against approaching it with expectations too greatly excited; but he admits that the buried ruins remain as vast and complete as ever, and that when they are fully excavated Borcovicus will be the Pompeii of Britain. It is fortunate for the lovers of anti-"

evidence:-	old text:- Gents Mag 1851 item:- roman altar; inscription, roman; roman inscription
source data:-	goto source Gentleman's Magazine 1851 part 2 p.504 "[anti]quity, it is fortunate for the honour of our country, that Housesteads is now the property of the enlightened owner of Chesters, who fully appreciates its historical worth. The area of the station contains about five acres. It is situated upon elevated ground, bounded on the north by the great wall; on the east by a ravine, through which runs a stream; and on the south by a valley and a ridge, where was found an altar dedicated to Jupiter by the first cohort of the Tungrians, and the celebrated Mithraic cave. The walls are in a good state of preservation, from nine to sixteen courses of the facing-stones yet remaining. Like most, if not all, of the wall stations, they shew no traces of having been flanked with towers, and they are constructed wholly of stone without the bonding courses of tiles so common in the castra in the south of England. The gateways have double entrances, and are built of massives stones and flanked with guard-rooms. That on the western side, at the period of our visit, was being further and carefully excavated. It presented the appearance of having been hastily walled up or barricaded for the purppose of defence. As the entrances were defended with double doors of great strength, this inner wall was probably added after their destruction, but when and under what circumstances it is impossible to determine. Its speaks forcibly, however, of invasion, and of battles lost and won, such as the lower barrier must often have witnessesed in the days of Rome's decline and fall. The guard-chambers are well preserved; on the side wall of one of them is a phallus cut in the stone; the effluvium from animal matter with which those rooms were filled is still oppressively strong. It is probable that the station was occupied after the departure of the Romans, and the guard-rooms used as receptacles for refuse of all kinds. It is very easy to trace the course of the streets running from east to west and from north to south, and the remains of buildings cover the entire area. What these may be, and what they may contain, it is useless to speculate on; the pickaxe and spade are the only keys that can unlock the buried treasures. One Roman house has however survived the general overthrow; the external walls remain probably almost to their original altitude, and the foundations of the internal ones are distinct. The preservation of this rare extant example of a Roman house may be attributed to its having been found useful as a sheepfold - a purpose it has apparently been applied to for centuries."

evidence:-	old text:- Gents Mag placename:- Borcovicus
source data:-	Magazine, The Gentleman's Magazine or Monthly Intelligencer or Historical Chronicle, published by Edward Cave under the pseudonym Sylvanus Urban, and by other publishers, London, monthly from 1731 to 1922. goto source Gentleman's Magazine 1851 part 1 opp p.149 click to enlarge G851E02.jpg "AT THE STATION OF BORCOVICUS"

evidence:-	old text:- Gents Mag 1851
source data:-	goto source Gentleman's Magazine 1851 part 1 p.149 "..." "... to convey some faint notion of the architectural peculiarities of this vast building [Hadrian's Wall] and its adjuncts, shall proceed to Borcovicus, the midway station, now called Housesteads. Gordon calls this the most remarkable and magnifient station in the whole island, and he speaks of "the marks of streets and temples in ruins, inscriptions, broken pillars, statues, and other pieces of sculpture, all scattered along the ground." Stukeley calls it "the Tadmor of Britain." Mr. Bruce, who examined it in 1849 and 1850, observes" ""Let not the visitor, however, approach it with expectations too greatly excited. There is very much to admire, but not a great deal to strike the eye at first sight. The altars and sculptured figures which lay in profusion on the ground when Gordon and Stukeley were there, have been removed, but the ruins of the place remain as complete and vast as ever. The city is, in a great measure, covered with its own debris, but the excavations which have recently been made show us that, when they are continued throughout the entire station, the ancient Borcovicus will be the Pompeii of Britain."" "The area is about five acres, half lying on a slope, the other on a flat; on the north it is bounded by the wall. The west wall of the station instead of coming up to the great wall in a straight line as is usual, makes a curve such as is common in the corners of castra built independent of the wall, as is shown by the annexed woodcut (see Plate):"

evidence:-	old text:- Gents Mag 1851
source data:-	goto source Gentleman's Magazine 1851 part 1 p.150 ""All the gateways except the north have been explored, and present very interesting subjects of study to the antiquary. The western part is in the best condition, and is specially worthy of attention. Its arrangements will readily be understood by an inspection of the ground plan, which is here introduced. ..." click to enlarge G851E06.jpg "This gateway, as well as the others which have been, is, in every sense of the word, double. Two walls must be passed before the camp can be entered; each is provided with two portals, and each portal has been closed with two-leaved gates. The southern entrance of the outside wall has alone as yet been entirely cleared of the masonry that closed it. The jambs and pillars are formed of massive stones of rustic masonry. The doors, if we may judge from the fragments of corroded iron which have been lately picked up, were of wood, strengthened with iron plates and studs; they moved, as is appaprent from the pivot-holes, upon pivots of iron. In the centre of each portal stands a strong upright stone, against which the gates have shut. Some of the large projecting stones of the exterior wall are worn, as if by the sharpening of knives upon them. ... The guard-chambers on each side are in a state of choice preservation, one of the walls standing fourteen courses high. Were a roof put on them, the antiquary might here stand guard, as the Tungrians of old, and for a while forget that the world is sixteen centuries older than it was when these chambers were reared. At least two of the chambers in this part of the camp have been warmed by U-shaped flues running round three of their sides beneath the floor. These chambers, when recently excavated, were found to be filled with rubbish so highly charged with animal matter as painfully to affect the sensibilities of the labourers. The teeth and bones of oxen, horns resembling those of the red deer, but larger, and boars' tusks were very abundant; there was the usual quantity of all the kinds of pottery used by the Romans.""

evidence:-	old text:- Gents Mag placename:- Borcovicus
source data:-	Magazine, The Gentleman's Magazine or Monthly Intelligencer or Historical Chronicle, published by Edward Cave under the pseudonym Sylvanus Urban, and by other publishers, London, monthly from 1731 to 1922. goto source Gentleman's Magazine 1853 part 2 p.391 "... ..." "New discoveries are continually being made along the line of the Roman Wall. Housesteads (Borcovicus) is being gradually laid open by the workmen of its proprietor, Mr. John Clayton, to whose good taste and liberality the remains of this and other stations owe their preservation. The gate-ways and guard-chambers are remarkably well preserved, and the whole of the interior is a mass of ruins which only require very slight excavation, for the foundations are solid, and reach almost to the present surface of the soil. ..."

evidence:-	old painting:- placename:- Borcovicus
source data:-	Painting, watercolour, The Roman Wall, North Gate, Borcovicus and Amphitheatre, ie Vercovicium, Housesteads fort, Northumberland, by David Mossman, 1880s. click to enlarge PR0793.jpg View of Hadrian's Wall; in foreground to right of composition lies the amphitheatre at the entrance to which stand two men. Hadrian's Wall extends to left of composition across moorland towards distant hills beyond. The work is unfinished. inscribed &signed at bottom right:- "North Gate Borcovicus and Amphitheatre D Mossman" annotated at reverse:- "The Roman Wall - North Gate, Borcovius and Amphitheatre Presented by the Artist D Mossman 1893" item:- Tullie House Museum : 1889.8.6 Image © Tullie House Museum

evidence:-	textbook:- Rivet and Smith 1979 placename:- Vercovicium placename:- Velurtion placename:- Velurcion placename:- Borcovicio placename:- Borcovitio placename:- Boreovito
source data:-

	BZT82.jpg Mithras killing a bull. Item 1822.38-39.1 (taken 10.1.2014) courtesy of the Hancock Museum, Newcastle

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