| Summary : The site of Castra Exploratorum Roman Fort and civil settlement at Netherby. There are no visible remains, Netherby Hall probably occupies the site of the fort. It was occupied from the time of Agricola, from the 80s AD until the 4th century AD. Its earlier name, at least during the occupation of the Antonine Wall, could have been "Brocara". Descriptions by antiquarians and the epigraphic evidence of a number of inscriptions, make it certain that a fort and substantial settlement existed here, probably with a port on the River Esk, since silted up. |
More information : (NY 396716) Castra Exploratorvm Roman Fort (R) (Site of). (1)
Site of Roman fort and civil settlement, accepted since the time of Horsley as Castra Exploratorum of the Antonine Itinerary. (Its earlier name, at least during the occupation of the Antonine Wall, could have been "Brocara" of the Ravenna Cosmography). All above-ground remains have been destroyed by the building of the Netherby mansion and the landscaping of the surrounding grounds, but the descriptions by antiquarians from Leland onwards, and the epigraphic evidence of a number of inscriptions, make it certain that a fort and substantial settlement existed here, probably with a port on the River Esk, since silted up. The precise position, size and orientation of the fort are uncertain, but the modern mansion, standing on a little bluff above the Esk, occupies the presumed and most natural site. Stukeley saw Roman remains, which he took to be a fort, all round the house, and he, Gale and Goodman describe the settlement as extending north-west from the fort towards the river, with several streets, on one of which a bath-house was discovered in 1732. Leland saw the "ruinous walls of marvellous buildings", and was told of rings and staples set in walls as if for the mooring of ships, whilst the early editions of Camden refer to the "wonderful and large ruins of an ancient city".
Stukeley saw a cemetery down the hill from the house, but does not say on which side it lay. It seems reasonably certain that a fort was established here by the time of Agricola, guarding a road junction and crossing of the Esk, but the earliest definite evidence is an inscription (RIB 974, now lost) which records construction carried out by the second legion in the time of Hadrian. Inscriptions of the 3rd century show that the fort became the headquarters of the frontier scouts in the re-organisation by Caracella, being occupied by Cohors I Aelia Hispanorum circa 211 AD, with detachments on loan from the two legions of Upper Britain. The external bath-house wasbuilt circa 222 AD (RIB 968), and the rebuilding of a temple probably dates from about the same time (RIB 979). The latest direct dating evidence is a coin of Gordian (238-244 AD), but it is reasonable to suppose that occupation continued well into the 4th century, as with the other four outpost forts of the Caracellan system. Finds from the site are preserved at Netherby Hall and in Tullie House Museum, Carlisle. (2-3)
As stated by Birley, no trace of the fort survives. Netherby occupies a plateau above the haughland of the River Esk, and the mansion almost certainly occupies the site of the fort. (4)
Name 'Castra Exploratorum' accepted. (5) |