Gabrosentum (Parton) Fort
Fort
Roman fort possibly the site of Tunocelum or Gabrosentum is visible as an earthwork on air photographs. The fort measures 358ft N-S by 400ft E-W and is circa 3.5 acres in extent (b), the E-W measurement and acreage confirmed by Birley.
The Gabrosentum Fort
Two altars and six inscribed stones were found in and around the fort, one of which had a Hadrianic inscription, suggesting 128-138 AD as the construction date of the fort.
RIB801 - Inscription
TRAIAN HADRI
ANI AVG P P
LEG XX V V
RIB800 - Inscription
CVRAN VALERIO
LVP[...]RCO PRAEF
COH II LING
RIB803 - Building inscription of the Second Cohort of Thracians
TRAQ FEC
RIB802 - Fragmentary inscription
The Garrison Units
RIB798 - Altar dedicated to Silvanus
COH II LING[...]
CVI PRAEES[...]
G POMPEIVS M [...]
SATVRNIN[...]
Cohors Secundae Lingonum is recorded in stone on two undated inscriptions recovered from Moresby, a building inscription (vide RIB 800) and an altar to Silvanus (RIB 798 supra). The Second Cohort of Lingones were a part-mounted unit numbering five-hundred men, levied from the Lingones tribe of Upper Germany, now the Dijon region of France. They are also attested on stamped tiles and an undated altar (Rib 635) at Ilkley in Yorkshire, and were possibly the original Hadrianic garrison here, at Gabrosentum.
RIB804 - Funerary inscription for Smertrius
SMERT[...]
O MAC[...  ]
M COH I[...]
[...]HRAC[...]
[...]Q STIP
X VICSIT [...]
XXXV D V
The Notitia Dignitatum Entry
“The tribune of the Second Cohort of Thracians at Gabrosentis“
Like its predecessor this unit was part-mounted and contained a nominal five-hundred men, this time recruited from amongst the various tribes of Thracia province, inhabiting the area between the Ægean and Black Seas, a region which encompassed modern southern Bulgaria, eastern Macedonia and Turkey west of the Bosporous.
The Gods of Roman Moresby
RIB797 - Dedication to Jupiter Optimus Maximus
COH II TRA
EQ C P MAMI
VS NEPOS PRA
EF
RIB799 - Fragmentary dedication.
RITATEM
CVLMINIS
INSTITVTI
RIB805 - Fragmentary inscription
Classical References for Gabrosentvm
The name of the Roman station at Moresby is mentioned in two classical geographical sources; the Notitia Dignitatum, where it appears as Gabrosentum; also in the Ravenna Cosmology (R&C#117), where it is listed as Gabrocentium, between the unidentified Iuliocenon entry and Alauna (Maryport, Cumbria).
The modern name for the site first appears in a document dating c.1160AD where it is recorded as Moresceby, which means ‘the Village of Maurice’, a mixture of an Old French personal name and the Scandinavian suffix -by, which indicates a large farm or small village.
References for Gabrosentvm
- The Roman Inscriptions of Britain by R.G. Collingwood and R.P. Wright (Oxford 1965);
Roman Roads near Gabrosentvm
Probable Military Road: N (6) to Bvrrow Walls (Burrow Walls, Cumbria) possible military road: S (9) to Tvnnocelvm (nr. Braystones, Beckermet, Cumbria)