The Roman Wall: A historical, topographical, and descriptive account of the barrier of the lower isthmus, extending from the Tyne to the Solway, deduced from numerous personal surveysBruce, J. Collingwood (John Collingwood)
History
The Roman Wall: A historical, topographical, and descriptive account of the barrier of the lower isthmus, extending from the Tyne to the Solway, deduced from numerous personal surveys
Bruce, J. Collingwood (John Collingwood)
Great Britain -- Antiquities, Roman; Walls, Roman -- Great Britain
The walls, ditches, and gateways of the station are all discernible. The
northern gateway would be the one chiefly used by the garrison, as it
opens directly upon the Great Military Way. An examination of the
western gateway, some years ago, led to the belief that it had been
walled up at an early period; this is the most exposed side of the camp.
A portion of the wall of the station near the north-east corner, when
cleared by its late owner, Mr. Hedley, stood twelve courses high. In
this case, as in many others, the researches of the antiquary have only
facilitated the operations of the destroyer; much of it has since been
removed. The size of the stones, which is considerable in the foundation
course, gradually diminishes upwards.
[Sidenote: CHESTERHOLM.]
At least two buildings provided with hypocausts, have been discovered
here. One of these stood about fifty yards beyond the western rampart,
and when discovered, contained a square apartment, vaulted above. Some
of the vaulting-stones are still preserved at Chesterholm; they are
grooved near the lower extremity, apparently to allow of the joints
being strengthened by the insertion between them of keys of slate or
wood. The remains of this building were more complete when Hodgson wrote
the following paragraph than at present:—
The pillars of the hypocaust are still very black with fire and soot;
and people say that the Bowers, from the Roman age till within the
last century, was the elysium of a colony of fairies; and this ruined
bath, the kitchen to one of their palaces, of which the soot among the
stones was undeniable evidence; and confident belief affirmed, that
long passages led from this laboratory of savoury messes to
subterranean halls that ever echoed to the festivities and music of
the Queen of the Bowers, and her aërial court.
[Illustration: Altar to Fortune, Chesterholm]
The other hypocaust was partially explored by Warburton in 1717, but
more fully by the rev. Ant. Hedley in 1831. It stood within the area of
the camp not far from the eastern gateway. In its ruins, Warburton found
the fine altar to Fortune, here engraved. It is now preserved in the
Library of the Dean and Chapter at Durham, the ‘judicious’ antiquary not
having been able to obtain his price for it of my lord Oxford.[112] Here
also Mr. Hedley discovered the three noble altars [Illustration:
Hypocaust Pillar] which are still preserved at Chesterholm. The pillars
which supported the floor of the hypocausts were of different shapes and
diameters; some of them were portions of square columns, as in the
annexed example, some circular, like the balusters of stairs, as may be
seen by the specimens of them in the garden at Chesterholm. The Romans
themselves, Hodgson remarks, seem to have treated the fallen works of
their predecessors here with very little ceremony, when they cut down
the handsome columns of halls and temples into pillars for sooty
hypocausts.
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