Bremetennacum

Coordinates: 53°48′37″N 2°31′51″W / 53.81035°N 2.530828°W / 53.81035; -2.530828
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Bremetennacum
Roman ruins in Ribchester
Bremetennacum is located in the Borough of Ribble Valley
Bremetennacum
Location within the Borough of Ribble Valley
General information
Architectural styleRoman fort
Town or cityRibchester, Lancashire
CountryEngland
Coordinates53°48′37″N 2°31′51″W / 53.81035°N 2.530828°W / 53.81035; -2.530828
Completed72/3
Official nameRibchester Roman fort (Bremetennacum)
Reference no.1005110

Bremetennacum, (

Scheduled Monument.[2]

The site guarded a crossing-point of the

auxiliaries, first stationed in Britain by Marcus Aurelius
in 175. Prior to that it is suggested that the fort was garrisoned by the Ala II Asturum from Spain, but there is some uncertainty about this. Pottery evidence indicates that the fort was occupied for most of the 4th century until the end of the Roman period.

A recreation of Templeborough Roman Fort in Yorkshire. It was rebuilt in stone in the 2nd century and covered an area of 2.2 hectares (5.5 acres),[4] similar to Bremetennacum

History

The first fort was built in timber in AD 72/73 by Legio XX Valeria Victrix. The fort was renovated in the late 1st century AD and was rebuilt in stone in the early 2nd century. During the life of the fort, a village grew up around it. A fort remained at Ribchester until the 4th century AD and its remains can still be seen around the present village.

Plan of the principia at Ribchester Fort

A report on Roman remains at Ribchester was published by Francis Haverfield in Roman Britain in 1914:[5]

In the spring of 1913 a small school-building was pulled down at Ribchester, and the Manchester Classical Association was able to resume its examination of the Principia (praetorium) of the Roman fort, above a part of which this building had stood. The work was carried out by Prof. W. B. Anderson, of Manchester University, and Mr. D. Atkinson, Research Fellow of Reading College, and, though limited in extent, was very successful.

The first discovery of the Principia is due to Miss Greenall, who about 1905 was building a house close to the school and took care that certain remains found by her builders should be duly noted: excavations in 1906-07, however, left the size and extent of these remains somewhat uncertain and resulted in what we now know to be an incorrect plan. The work done last spring (1913) makes it plain (see illustration) that the Principia fronted — in normal fashion — the main street of the fort (gravel laid on cobbles) running from the north to the south gate. But, abnormally, the frontage was formed by a verandah or colonnade: the only parallel which I can quote is from

Ambleside
. Behind this, probably, stood the usual five office rooms.

If we carry the Principia about twenty feet further back, which would be a full allowance for these rooms with their walling, the end of the whole structure will line with the ends of the granaries found some years ago. This, or something very like it, is what we should naturally expect. We then obtain a structure measuring 81 × 112 feet (34 m), the latter dimension including a verandah 8 feet (2.4 m) wide. This again seems a reasonable result. Ribchester was a large fort, about 6 acres (24,000 m2), garrisoned by cavalry; in a similar fort at Chesters, on Hadrian's Wall, the Principia measured 85 × 125 feet (38 m): in the 'North Camp' at Camelon, another fort of much the same size (nearly 6 acres), they measured 92 × 120 feet (37 m).

The most famous artifact discovered in Ribchester, and dating from the Roman period, is the

clogmaker. The boy found the items buried in a hollow, about 10 feet below the surface, on some waste land by the side of a road leading to Ribchester Church, and near a river bed.[6] In addition to the helmet, the hoard included a number of patera, pieces of a vase, a bust of Minerva, fragments of two basins, several plates and some other items that Townley thought had religious uses. The finds were thought to have survived so well because they were covered in sand.[6]

Culture

Diet

Evidence for diet was recovered during the excavations in the vicus. Fish include smelt, salmon, eel, grey mullet and plaice/flounder. Animal bones consisted of cattle, sheep/goat and pig.[7] Several flavourings were found, including coriander and dill.[8]

Religion

Several altars were discovered from the Roman fort, including ones dedicated to the Matres and Moguns.[9]

Death and burial

Several funerary inscriptions have been recovered including one dedicated to a decurion.[10]

Rediscovery of Roman Ribchester

The excavation site near the granaries in 2019.

Several antiquarians recorded their visits to Ribchester, including

series one of Time Team. Along with the archaeologists, the Ermine Street Guard were also present; they reenacted the construction of a turf rampart using authentic Roman tools.[15] The University of Central Lancashire undertook excavations during the 2010s in the area of the north gate of the auxiliary Roman fort.[16]

In 1993, the first episode of Time Team that was recorded excavated the back garden of 2 Church Street in which a sizeable section of the fort's remains are preserved.[17][18]

Archaeological remains

Visible remains

  • Ribchester Roman Museum, opened in 1915.[19]
  • Roman bath house

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Esmonde Cleary, A.; R. Talbert; S. Vanderbilt; R. Warner; S. Gillies; T. Elliott (19 March 2017). "Places: 79352 (Bremetennacum Veteranorum)". Pleiades. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  2. ^ a b Historic England. "Bremetennacum Veteranorum (43639)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 11 March 2008.
  3. ^ Shotter, D. (2004). Romans and Britons in north-west England. Lancaster: University of Lancaster.
  4. ^ Historic England. "Templeborough Roman Fort (316617)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  5. ^ Haverfield, 1915
  6. ^ a b Baines, Edward; Whatton, W. R. (1836). History of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster. Fisher, Son and Co. p. 20.
  7. doi:10.5284/1000231
    . Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  8. ^ Huntley, Jacqui (2000). "Plant remains". Bremetenacum: excavations at Roman Ribchester 1980, 1989-1990. Lancaster. pp. 349–366.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. ^ "RIB 3183. Altar dedicated to the Matres | Roman Inscriptions of Britain". romaninscriptionsofbritain.org. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  10. ^ "RIB 596. Fragmentary funerary inscription | Roman Inscriptions of Britain". romaninscriptionsofbritain.org. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  11. ^ a b "archaeology". www.ribchesterromanmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 22 May 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  12. OCLC 59559711
    .
  13. OCLC 920917347
    .
  14. PMID 2000
    .
  15. ^ Ribchester, Lancashire, retrieved 28 March 2020
  16. ^ "UCLan Ribchester Roman dig on BBC's Digging for Britain". UCLan - University of Central Lancashire. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  17. Oxford Archaeology North
  18. ^ On the Edge of an Empire | FULL EPISODE | Time Team – Time Team Classics, YouTube, 20 September 2019
  19. ^ "about". www.ribchesterromanmuseum.org. Retrieved 28 March 2020.

Other sources


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