ABALLAVA

Stanegate Forts and Watchtower
Hadrian's Wall Fort and Settlement

Burgh by Sands, Cumbria

NGRef: NY329591 OSMap: Hadrian's Wall, LR86 Type: Wall Fort, Minor Settlement
Roads
Wall: ESE (5¼) to VXELODVNVM (Stanwix, Cumbria) Stanegate: E (6) to LVGVVALIVM (Carlisle, Cumbria) Wall: W (3½) to CONCAVATA (Drumburgh, Cumbria) Stanegate: W (6) to Kirkbride (Cumbria)

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 Novantae in the north-west and the Selgovae to the north. 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 Ravenna Cosmology as Avalana (R&C#153), between the entries for Uxelludamo (Stanwix, Cumbria) 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 on this page.

The Earlier Forts

Burgh-by-Sands I (NY317587)

To the south of the later fort on Hadrian's Wall, a large fort has been found at Hill Farm, Longborough, which is seemingly aligned with a Roman road which runs along the humpback ridge of Fingland Rigg, to the auxiliary fort at Kirkbride. This road passes directly in front of the fort, and probably represents a westward extension of the Stanegate frontier system sometime during the Trajanic period. Although unexcavated, the Burgh-by-Sands I fort, judging from its alignment with this late-Stanegate extension quite possibly dates to the Trajanic period, although it is possible that the fort may have been founded during the campaigns of Agricola around AD79/80.

Burgh-by-Sands II (NY324582)

Aerial photographs taken by Barri Jones in 1977 revealed the outline of a large Roman fort on top of the commanding hill to the south of Burgh village. The construction date of this timber-built auxiliary fort has been established around the late-Trajanic / early-Hadrianic period. Also shown on the AP's is a 19m wide circular cropmark lying within the defences of the fort close to it's south-east gate. This feature has been identified as a Roman four-post watch tower with a circular ditch. This timber tower has been dated by the finding of black-burnished ware pottery shards in one of the main postholes to about AD120, when this type of pottery began to appear. This timber-built tower was not in service long before being demolished and replaced by the Burgh-by-Sands II fort. It is generally accepted that this fort was built as part of the initial scheme for Hadrians Wall.

The Wall Fort

The Wall fort was evidently an addition to the original Hadrianic plans, because turret 71B which originally occupied the site had to be demolished before the fort could be built astride the line of the Wall. It would appear from pottery recovered at Fort II that the transfer of the garrison to the stone-built fort on the line of the Wall occurred well into the Hadrianic period. The site of the Hadrianic Wall fort at Burgh-by-Sands now lies beneath the modern town. It has been suggested that the fort was built at the same time as the vallum.

The Garrison Units

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.

1. The dedicators name may also be read ARRIVS G F CLAVD VRSINIANVS.

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

Epigraphic evidence has been recovered which places the Cuneus Frisiorum among the fort's garrison during the reign of Caracalla (Imp. AD198-217). By the reign of Philip the Arab (Imp. AD244-249) 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).

1. Valerian ruled the empire from October AD253 until he was captured by the Persian king Shapur in June 260; he later died in captivity. His son Gallienus rulled the empire jointly from October 253 and became sole ruler upon his father's capture, continuing to rule until he was murdered by his soldiers outside Milan in September 268. This text also obliquely refers to Valerian's younger son also named Valerian - not Gallienus as stipulated here - who was never invested with any constitutional powers, and died of natural causes in 258.

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: AD253-258). The Notitia Dignitatum also places this unit at Aballaba.

The Gods of Aballava

Dedicatory inscriptions have been found near Burgh-by-Sands in close proximity to an image of a horned god, a Germanic deity named Belatucadrus, who was associated by the Romans with Mars. There are four altars to Belatucader (altarstones RIB 2038/9 and 2044/2045; vide infra), one of which is shared with the Roman war god Mars (RIB 2044 etiam infra), two dedicated to Jupiter Best and Greatest (2041; 2042, dated: AD253-258), and single altarstones to Hercules (RIB 2040 supra) and Latis (RIB 2043 etiam supra).

The Vicus or Civil Settlement

There are three Roman tombstones recorded for Burgh-by-Sands, all of which are damaged. That of a Dacian (RIB 2046 supra), probably a soldier, and two other fragmentary texts; D M S ... "To the sacred spirits of the departed [...]" (RIB 2047), and another inscribed merely VII "seven" (RIB 2048).

Other Sites of Interest

The Marching Camps

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 Wall and Vallum

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 Walls western terminus at Bowness-on-Solway.

Roman Military Earthworks

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 II 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 Gnaeus Julius Agricola (AD79).

A Bit About Robert the Bruce

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

Burgh-by-Sands
Although the site of much Roman military activity in the past, nothing now remains to be seen.

See: 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).
All English translations, including any inherent mistakes, are my own.

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