OSMap: LR88
Type: Roman Fort
Possible Military Road: SW (8) to VINDOMORA (Ebchester, Durham)
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NGRef: NZ219602 OSMap: LR88 Type: Roman Fort |
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Stanegate: WNW (15) to CORSTOPITVM (Corbridge, Northumberland) Possible Military Road: SW (8) to VINDOMORA (Ebchester, Durham) | |
This trapezoid fort measuring about 490 by 410 feet (c.150 x 125 m) and covering an area of about 4½ acres (c.1.8 ha) was discovered from the air in 1970, lying in farmland on Dunston Hill overlooking the River Tyne, 3 miles south-west of Newcastle and about ½ mile (c.1km) south-east of Whickham. At least two, possibly three, occupation periods are visible on A.P.'s, but as yet (source 1987) the fort remains unexcavated. The Period I fort is thought to predate Hadrian's Wall, possibly being founded during the Trajanic withdrawal from Scotland, while the later (smaller?) Period II enclosure may be indicative of an early-Hadrianic alteration to the fort's garrison. The Washing Wells fort was very likely abandoned when the Wall fort at Segedunum (Wallsend) was built c.AD125?, indeed, it is possible - though not proven - that the same garrison unit was simply relocated between the former and the latter camps on either side of the Tyne.
