OSMap: LR86/87
Type: Small Fort, 4 Marching Camps.
Stanegate: E (3½) to VINDOLANDA (Chesterholm, Northumberland)
Stanegate: W (3½) to MAGNIS (Carvoran, Northumberland)
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NGRef: NY7166 OSMap: LR86/87 Type: Small Fort, 4 Marching Camps. |
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| Roads | |
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Probable Trackway: N (¼) to Cawfields (Northumberland) Stanegate: E (3½) to VINDOLANDA (Chesterholm, Northumberland) Stanegate: W (3½) to MAGNIS (Carvoran, Northumberland) | |
The small fort at Haltwhistle Burn, and another at Throp, represent the first examples in Britain of a new element in the Roman military, the small fort or fortlet. These camps were designed to house only part of a normal unit, and the only difference between a small fort and a fortlet being that no provision was allowed in a fortlet for administrative buildings, these establishments being contained within the small fort.
Excavations have revealed structures at the centre of the camp which have been identified as a small principia or regimental H.Q. building, which means that Haltwhistle should be termed a 'small fort'.
In addition to the four camps north of the Haltwhistle fort itself, which are detailed below, there were many other camps in the area; there are two on the west side of the Caw Burn at Markham Cottage, another on the south side of the Stanegate to the south-east at Milestone House, and others on the 'Barbarian' side of Hadrian's Wall to the north at Cawfields and to the north-west at Burnhead and Chesters Pike.
| Haltwhistle Burn 1, Northumberland | |||
| NY714662 | (84 x 147 m) | (1 ha) | This rectangular camp lies only 50m N of the NE corner of the Trajanic fortlet, and is aligned to the E, as evidenced by its surviving gates, set centrally in the short W side and another in the S side, offset to the E some 50m frrom the SE corner angle; any corresponding gateways in the N & E sides have been erased by a modern road which cuts across the NE corner of the camp. |
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| Haltwhistle Burn 2, Northumberland | |||
| NY716663 | (94 x 94 m) | (0.7 ha) | This square camp lies only 30m from the NE corner of Camp-1. There are at least 3 gates protected by external tituli, placed centrally in the N, S & E sides, but all traces of any W gateway have been lost by natural erosion and the building of the S defences of Camp-3, which utilized the N defences of this camp and portions of the E & W rampart. |
| Haltwhistle Burn 3, Northumberland | |||
| NY716663 | (40 x 94 m) | (0.3 ha) | This camp was formed by contracting the S rampart of the original Camp-2 and building another rampart just N of the original camp's E & W gateways. The area thus enclosed was somewhat less than half of the original. A new S gateway was also built, protected by an external titulum, though it seems probable that no new gateways were provided through the reduced E & W sides. |
| Haltwhistle Burn 4, Northumberland | |||
| NY713664 | (16 x 19 m) | (? ha) | This very small camp lies some 100m N of the NW corner-angle of Camp-1, and is roughly rectangular in shape with gateways set in the middle of its shorter E & W sides. Its unfavourable location make it probable that this camp post-dates Hadrian's Wall, which lay only a few yards to the N. |
