Maryport (Alauna) Roman Fort

The fort at Maryport formed part of the ‘Western Sea Defences’, a line of forts and watch-towers strung along the north-western coastline of Cumbria; a western extension of Hadrian’s Wall. The fort is considerably larger than that necessary to accommodate the units which have been attested here. This surplus area has suggested to some scholars that Maryport may have been the administrative centre for the whole of the Western Sea Defences, but this cannot be proven. A magnetometric survey conducted in 2000 revealed the outline of the principia or regimental headquarters building in the centre of the fort with a clearly defined strongroom in the building’s back range, while outside the defences a substantial vicus settlement was seen to extend for at least 330 yards (300m) along the road to the north-east (Britannia, 2001).

The site of the Maryport fort overlooking the Solway Estuary is certainly picturesque but the Roman remains are less than spectacular, especially when compared with the magnificence of sites such as Hardknott or Housesteads. The reconstruction of a Roman watch-tower in the grounds of the Senhouse Roman Museum did, however, offer a limited view of the fort’s defences with the civil settlement beyond.

During excavations over the years at the Maryport fort a number of mollusc shells have been uncovered, including those of Oyster, Mussel and Edible Snail. (See the article: The Roman Military Diet by R.W. Davies, in Britannia II (1971) pp.122-142).

Who Built Alauna (Maryport)?

The fort was built by legionaries from both the Second and Twentieth legions, very likely at sometime during the reign of the emperor Hadrian (see RIB 851 below).

RIB 852 - Building inscription of the detachments of the legio II Augusta and XX Valeria Victricix

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RIB 851 - Inscription dedicated to the Emperor Caesar Trajan Hadrian

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Building Inscriptions from the Second and Third Centuries

Some building work was undertaken by the auxiliary regiment Cohors I Hispanorum (RIB 855) and possibly by their successors Cohors I Delmatarum (RIB 850).

The Alauna (Maryport) Garrison Units

Cohors Primae Hispanorum – The First Spanish Cohort

The most frequently attested unit at Maryport – and probably the first to occupy the fort – was Cohors I Hispanorum Equitata, a five-hundred strong part-mounted unit recruited from amongst the tribes of the Roman Spanish provinces. The Notitia Dignitatum indicates that by the turn of the fifth century, the unit had been moved on to Vxelodvnvm (Stanwix, Cumbria). Of the twenty-three altars to Jupiter found at Maryport, ten are inscribed with the name of this regiment and a further six were dedicated by men known to have commanded the unit, which likely indicates that they were stationed here for a substantial period.

Cohors Primae Delmatarum – The First Cohort of Dalmatae

The second auxiliary unit identified at Maryport was Cohors I Delmatarum, a five-hundred strong infantry unit of Delmatae tribesmen from the Adriatic coast of modern Croatia. This regiment is attested on a number of inscriptions, two of them being positively dated to the reign of Antoninus Pius in the period 138-61AD.

Cohors Primae Baetasiorum Civium Romanorum – The First Cohort of Baetasii, Citizens of Rome

Altars dedicated by Commanders of the First Cohort of Baetasians, at Maryport AD 160 to  AD 180
Photo from Senhouse Musseum, Maryport.

Another auxiliary regiment which occupied the Maryport fort was Cohors I Baetasiorum, a five-hundred strong infantry unit of the Baetasii tribe from the area to the immediate west of Novaesium in Germania Inferior (Neuss, Westfalen, West Germany). This unit was originally stationed at the Bar Hill fort in the middle of the Antonine Wall, and moved to Maryport during the late Antonine period. The experience gained in the maritime environment here on the Cumbrian coast was later to see the unit posted to the Saxon-Shore fort at Regulbium (Reculver, Kent).

Altars Dedicated to Jupiter at Alauna (Maryport)

The usual place you would expect to find altars dedicated to Jupiter was in the principia or regimental headquarters building in the centre of the fort, but at Alauna no less than twenty-three altar-stones dedicated to the god Jupiter Best and Greatest were found buried at regular intervals beneath the parade-ground outside the camp. It is thought that there was only one active altar to Jupiter Optimus Maximus beside the parade-ground at any given moment, and a new one was perhaps dedicated by the unit commander each year, at which time the old altar was ceremoniously buried beneath the parade-ground so as to prevent desecration. This procedure possibly took place on the 3rd January, when the troops renewed their ‘Oath of allegiance’ to the emperor and state.

Other Gods Attested in Alauna (Maryport)

More Tombstones from Alauna (Maryport)

RIB 859 - Funerary inscription for Vireius Pau[...

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RIB 860 - Funerary inscription for Ingenuus

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RIB 862 - Funerary inscription for Rianorix

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RIB 863 - Funerary inscription for Spurcio

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RIB 867 - Funerary inscription for Luca

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Classical References for Alauna (Maryport)

Not listed in Ptolemy’s Geography, the Antonine Itinerary or the Notitia Dignitatum, the only classical geographical source for the name of the Roman fort and settlement at Maryport is an entry in the The Ravenna Cosmography (R&C#118). The station Alauna appears in this document between Gabrosentum (Moresby, Cumbria) and Bibra (Beckfoot, Cumbria). The modern town was founded in the late eighteenth century and named Mary Port, after the wife of the landowner and industrialist Humphrey Senhouse who built the harbour here in 1762.

The Meaning of the name Alauna?

Alauna is one of the commonest ancient names in Britain and on the Continent. It appears to be an adjective that served primarily as a river name, applied secondarily to forts and settlements near the mouths of those rivers, and to people and gods from there.

It is possible that the Roman name for the fort and settlement at Maryport is derived from a word (Welsh/Gaelic) which described its location, perhaps meaning ‘beautiful, wonderful’ (q.v. Gaelic alainn(e) ‘elegant, beautiful, splendid’). A plausible alternative, given the many altarstones found on the site, is that the name may be derived from a word (Welsh/Gaelic) for ‘shrine’ or ‘altar’ (q.v. Welsh allor (plural allorau) ‘altar(s)’).

The suffix Carvetiorum was used on this site to distinguish this particular site from others, also named Alauna in Roman times, and qualifies this town as belonging to the tribal lands of the Carvetii . The Romans would have just used the name Alavna.

References for Alavna [carvetiorvm]

• The Archaeology of Roman Britain by R.G. Collingwood (Methuen, London, 1930);
• The Roman Inscriptions of Britain – Vol.1 – Inscriptions on Stone by R.G. Collingwood and R.P. Wright (Oxford 1965);
• Temples in Roman Britain by M.J.T. Lewis (Cambridge 1966); Chronology of the Ancient World by E.J. Bickerman (Thames & Hudson, London, 1980);
• Chronicle of the Roman Emperors by Chris Scarre (Thames & Hudson, London, 1995); Britannia xxxii (2001) pp.337-9 & fig.13 p.338;

Map References for Alavna [carvetiorvm]

NGRef: NY 038 372 OSMap: LR89

Roman Roads near Alavna [carvetiorvm]

Military road: NNE (7.5) to Beckfoot (Beckfoot, Cumbria) military road: SSW (5) to Bvrrow Walls (Burrow Walls, Cumbria) Possible Road: ENE (15) to Old Carlisle (Old Carlisle, Cumbria) SE (6) to Papcastle (Papcastle, Cumbria)

Sites near Maryport (Alauna) Roman Fort

• Maryport (Alavna) Vicus (0 km)
  Vicus
• Maryport Temples (0 km)
  Temple Or Shrine
• Western Sea Defences - Milefortlet 21 - Swarthy Hill (4 km)
  Western Sea Defences
• Burrow Walls (Magis) Roman Fort (8 km)
  Western Sea Defences
• Papcastle (Derventio) Roman Fort (9 km)
  Flavian Auxiliary Fort (AD 69–96)
• Papcastle (Derventio) Vicus (9 km)
  Vicus
• Beckfoot (Bibra) Roman Fort (13 km)
  Western Sea Defences
• Blennerhasset Roman Fort (16 km)
  Flavian Auxiliary Fort (AD 69–96)
• Caermote Roman Fort (16 km)
  Trajanic Auxiliary Fort (A.D. 98–117)
• Parton (Gabrosentum) Roman Fort (17 km)
  Hadrianic Auxiliary Fort (117 to 138)