Hadrian's Wall - Fort - Burgh-by-Sands (Aballava)

Hadrian's Wall Fort and Vicus

Aballava – The Orchard

The area around Burgh-by-Sands is dotted with Roman military encampments, which were all placed at this strategic location to guard two nearby Solway fords, frequently used by raiding parties from the northern tribes, especially the Selgovae Celtic TribeSelgovae Tribe[/link_post] to the north and possibly also the NovantaeNovantae[/link_post] in the north-west. Aside from the Hadrianic fortifications there are two earlier auxiliary forts and a number of marching camps. The Burgh village church is built from stones taken from the Wall, and marks the location of the southern defences of the fort. Evidence of a small civilian settlement or vicus has also been found outside the fort’s south-eastern defences.

Evidence From Classical Sources

The name of the fort appears first in the Notitia Dignitatum of the early-fifth century, wherein is listed the station Aballaba, between the entries for Petrianis (Stanwix, Cumbria) and Congavata (Drumburgh, Cumbria). The Burgh-by-Sands fort also appears in the seventh-century The Ravenna Cosmography as Avalana (R&C#153), between the entries for Uxelludamo (another name for Stanwix) and Maia (Bowness on Solway, Cumbria).

The name is recorded in 1292 as Burg en le Sandes, and before that simply as Burch (c.1180). The origin of these names obviously stems from the Old English burh, meaning fortification or stronghold, its more modern name also referring to the location of the old Roman fort among the sandy dunes of the Solway estuary.

The Epigraphy of Aballava

There are eleven inscriptions on stone recorded in the R.I.B. for the Burgh-by-Sands fort, eight altarstones and three damaged tombstones. Only one of these stones can be dated, to the middle of the third century. All of these inscriptions are shown and translated on this page.

The Military Installations

There are a number of military installations in the are of Burgh-by-Sands. They were built starting with the [link_post post_id="9634" type="link"]Stanegate Fort[/link_post] built about 100 AD, with the Early Hadrianic possibly about 120 AD with a nearby Watch Tower, with  the turf and wood wall being built soon afterwards. The stone wall and Late-Hadrianic Fort (see next entry) was built about 160 AD.

Late-Hadrianic Fort – Aballava

The main fort Aballava is the Late-Hadrianic Wall Fort. It was evidently a late addition to the original Hadrianic plans because turret 71B which originally occupied the site (approx. NY 3289 5914) had to be demolished before the fort could be built. The fort was then built astride the line of the Turf Wall to avoid marshy ground to the south, with the Stone Wall being re-aligned to incorporate the fort’s northern defenses, as was normal for Wall forts intended to house infantry garrisons.

The site was partly excavated in 1922 by the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society conducted by R.G. Collingwood. It would appear from pottery recovered that this stone fort on the line of the Wall was built well into the Hadrianic period, very-likely at the same time as the barrier wall itself was here replaced in stone, continuing to be garrisoned until the mid-to-late-4th century.

The dimensions of the fort are not known with any accuracy, but the north-south dimension has been estimated at somewhere between 550 and 580 feet (168 – 178 m), due to the finding of the Roman Military Way in the vicarage garden. The eastern gateway was positively located during Collingwood’s investigations in 1922 just to the east of the church (at NY 3290 5908) and the western defenses are marked by a distinct drop in the road near the crossroads. This would suggest an east-west dimension in the region of 430 to 460 feet (130 – 140 m), and an occupation area anywhere between 5½ to 6¼ acres (2.2 – 2.5 ha).

The Garrison Units

Ala Primae Tungrorum – The First Wing of Tungri

The first known unit at Burgh by Sands is the Ala I Tungrorum, a five-hundred strong cavalry force enlisted from amongst the Tungri tribe of Gallia Belgica (Belgium). An inscription (LS514) recovered from the fort attests the presence of this auxiliary unit at Aballava sometime during the second century. Read more about the Ala Primae Tungrorum.

Cohors Primae Nervana Germanorum milliaria equitata
The First Cohort of Nervian Germans, one-thousand strong, part-mounted

RIB 2041 - Cohors Primae Nervana Germanorum - The First cohort of Nerva's Germans undated altarstone dedicated to Iupitter Optimus Maximus (RIB 2041).

To Jupiter, Best and Greatest, the First Nervan Cohort of Germans, a thousand strong, part-mounted, (set this up) under the command of Publius Tuscilius … ]asinianus, the tribune.

I O M
COH [...] NERVAN[...]
GERMANORVM
MIL EQ
CVI PRAEEST
P VSC[...]L CLND
AINIANV[   ]R[...]V[...]

Wrongly ascribed to Maryport by Skinner.

Cuneus Frisiorum Aballavensium The Formation of Frisians from Aballava

Epigraphic evidence has been recovered which places the Cuneus Frisiorum among the fort’s garrison during the reign of Caracalla (Imp. 198-217AD). By the reign of Philip the Arab (Imp. 244-249AD) the Frisians had been moved to Derventio (Papcastle, Cumbria; RIB 882/3), where they took the title Aballavensium from their previous station. Other Frisian cunei have also been identified at Vercovicium (Housesteads, Northumberland; RIB 1594) on Hadrian’s Wall and in its hinterland at Vinovia (Binchester, Durham; RIB 1036).

RIB 2042 - Altar dedicated to Jupiter Optimus Maximus and to the Divinities of the two Emperors and the Genius Numeri

To Jupiter, Best and Greatest, and to the Divinities of the two Emperors and the Genius of the unit of Aurelian Moors, Valerian’s and Gallienus’ Own, Flavius Vibianus, tribune of the cohort and commander of the unit mentioned above, (set this up) under the direction of Julius Rufinus, princeps.

[...]
[...]T NVMINIB
VS AVGG G N
MAVRRVM
AVR VALER
IANI GALLIE
NI Q C A FL
VIBIANV
S TRIB COH
[...]P N SS IST
[...]NTE IVL R
VFINO PRI
NCIPE

For Genius numeri see CIL xiii 6600, 6642, 7751.The numerus Maurorum Aurelianorum is here styled Valerianus Gallienusque, which dates it in Britain to A.D. 253-8. For a discussion about this unit see Birley, Cumb. Westm. AAST 2nd Ser. 39 (1939) 193.For princeps see Glossary. Addenda from RIB+add. (1995): For princeps, see also note to RIB 792.

By the time of the joint reign of Valerian and Gallienus, Burgh-by-Sands was garrisoned by the Numerus Maurorum Aurelianorum, as attested on an altarstone to Jupiter Best and Greatest (RIB2042; dated: 253-258AD). The Notitia Dignitatum also places this unit at Aballaba.

The Notitia Dignitatum Entry

Praefectus numeri Maurorum Aurelianorum Aballaba
“The prefect of Aurelian’s Own Company of Mauri at Aballaba
(Notitia Dignitatum xl.47; 4th/5th C.)

The Gods of Aballava

RIB 2040 - Altar dedicated to Hercules and to the Divinity of the Emperor

To Hercules and to the Divinity of the Emperor the … Cohort, ..

HERCVLI ET
NVMINI
AVG COH
[...]

For this expansion of N. Aug. in the singular see note to RIB 152. Birley (Cumb. Westm. AAST 2nd Ser. xxxvi (1936) 65 n.) conjectures that coh. I Nervana Germanorum may probably be restored here.

RIB 2043 - Altar dedicated to Latis

To the goddess Latis, Lucius son of Urseius (set this up).

DEAE
LATI
LVCIVS
VRSEI

For this goddess see RIB 1897. Addenda from RIB+add. (1995): Lucius is a cognomen here.

Altarstones Dedicated to the War God Belatucader

The Vicus or Civil Settlement

At Burgh-by-Sands, buildings of an extramural settlement were seen [during aerial survey] to east of the fort.” (St. Joseph, 1951)

RIB 2046 - Funerary inscription for Julius

… Julius …, a Dacian tribesman, …

[...]
IVL PI[  ...]
TINVS CIV
ES DACVS

No commentary.

RIB 2048 - Fragmentary inscription

Seven

VII

The ‘numeral’ is ‘boldly cut’ Bruce.

Other Sites of Interest

There are a number of temporary marching camps in the area, four to the east at Grinsdale and one at Beaumont nearby. The proximity of the Beaumont camp to the Aballava fort suggests that it may have housed the work-force which built the fort itself, though this is not proven.

The site of MileCastle 73 has been identified overlooking the Burgh Marsh from the western flank of Watch Hill at Dykesfield, about ½ mile west of the Hadrianic fort. The vallum also ends here on the edge of the Burgh Marsh, 66 miles from its origin at Newcastle, but reappears again to the west of the Drumburgh fort over three miles away across the salt-marsh, to continue the final three miles to the Wall’s western terminus at Bowness-on-Solway.

AP’s have revealed the line of a palisade and ditch, running along the ridge between Burgh village and the ford over the Sandwath at Sandsfield. It is possible that the watch-tower identified within the defences of Fort I may be associated with these earlier entrenchments, which evidently predate both of the forts. It is possible that these features represent part of a temporary north-western defence zone established during the second campaign season of governor Agricola (79AD).

Close to the line of the Roman earthwork about a mile north of the village is the King Edward I Monument, marking the spot where the English king’s forces were defeated in battle by Sir Robert Bruce near Old Sandsfield in 1307.

Aballava Today

The site of the Hadrianic Wall fort at Burgh-by-Sands now lies mostly beneath the church-yard in the eastern part of the modern town where, unfortunately, nothing remains to be seen, its component stone-work having been robbed-out over the centuries to build the town itself.

References for Aballava

  • Hadrian’s Wall From the Air by G.D.B. Jones & D.J. Woolliscroft (Tempus, Stroud, 2001);
  • Hadrian’s Wall Map and Guide by the Ordnance Survey (Southampton, 1989);
  • Air Reconnaissance of North Britain by J.K. St. Joseph in J.R.S. xli (1951) p.55;
  • The Roman Inscriptions of Britain by R.G. Collingwood and R.P. Wright (Oxford 1965).

Map References for Aballava – Late-Hadrianic Fort

OS National Grid Reference: NY 3288 5917
Dimensions: c. 565 x 445 feet (c. 173 x 135 m)
Area: c.5¾ acres (c. 2.3 ha)

Roman Roads near Aballava

Wall: ESE (5.25) to Uxelodvnvm (Stanwix, Cumbria) Stanegate: E (6) to (Carlisle, Cumbria) Wall: W (3.5) to Concavata (Drumburgh, Cumbria) [link_post post_id="9634" type="link"]Stanegate: W (6) to Kirkbride (Cumbria) Roman Military Way: SE (2.5) to Grinsdale

Sites near Hadrian's Wall - Fort - Burgh-by-Sands (Aballava)