| Summary : The site of a Roman bath house, north-east of Castlesteads Roman fort. Excavations which took place some time before 1741 uncovered a rectangular room, 8.2m by 4.6m internally, containing a hypocaust. Embedded in the clay floor were about 100 stone pillars supporting a floor composed of white stones. Adjoining the south wall were two further rooms also with hypocausts and paved with white stones. Some of the pillars were removed, and some were left in position, but the latter were subsequently destroyed. The site of the bath house of Castlesteads fort was re-discovered in 1991 by RCHME at NY 5131 6371, some 170m NE of the fort, in dense, mixed woodland, formerly ornamental but now somewhat overgrown. A series of irregular, man-made terraces stepping down the hillside can be seen; these are no longer intelligible and do not conform to the dimensions given at the time of the excavation. However, below the terraces, in the bed and the banks of a stream occupying a steep ravine, are fragments of quasi-marble slabs corresponding precisely to the thickness given in a History of Cumberland. |
More information : NY 512 634. Richard Goodman, writing in 1727, mentions traces of an extensive settlement on the south slope of Castlesteads fort, and in 1741, Susanna Maria Appleby excavated a bathhouse outside the fort. (1)
There are no visible traces of a vicus or a bathhouse in the area to the south of the fort which is of private gardens and arable land. (2)
The excavations which took place some time before 1741 uncovered a rectangular room, 8.2m by 4.6m internally, containing a hypocaust. Embedded in the clay floor were about 100 stone pillars supporting a floor composed of white stones. Adjoining the S wall were two further rooms also with hypocausts and paved with white stones. Some of the pillars were removed, and some were left in position, but the latter were subsequently destroyed.(3)
The site of the bath house of Castlesteads fort was re-discovered in 1991 by RCHME at NY 5131 6371, some 170m NE of the fort, in dense, mixed woodland, formerly ornamental but now somewhat overgrown. A series of irregular, man-made terraces stepping down the hillside can be seen; these are no longer intelligible and do not conform to the dimensions given at the time of the excavation. However, below the terraces, in the bed and the banks of a stream occupying a steep ravine, are fragments of quasi-marble slabs corresponding precisely to the thickness given by authority 3. (4)
Scheduled (5)
Located on the English Heritage map of Hadrian's Wall 2010. (6)
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