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
BREMENIUM, or High Rochester, is a station of considerable interest. It
stands upon Watling-street, at about twenty two miles north of the Wall.
Between Rochester and Chew-green the pavement of the Roman road may be
distinctly traced for many miles together. The site on which the station
stands is high and much exposed; but, in a military point of view, it is
very strong. On all sides the ground slopes from it, but on the north it
sinks so rapidly, as to give it the protection of a bold breastwork. The
walls of the station are stronger than those of the forts on the line of
the Wall; they are not only thicker, but are composed of larger
stones.[Sidenote: BREMENIUM.] A moat has surrounded the camp; on the
east side, which is by nature the weakest, two ditches have been formed,
which there is reason to believe were supplied with water. All the
gateways may be traced with considerable distinctness; the southern one
has suffered least from depredation. The interior of the station is
filled with the ruins of buildings; some of them would well repay
examination. Of the modern structures which have been raised within its
area, two are peel-houses or fortified dwellings of considerable
strength. The suburban buildings of the station have been situated on
the west side, where their foundations still appear. Here they would be
protected by the valley along which, at about a quarter of a mile’s
distance, the Sills-burn runs. The stones of the ramparts are strongly
marked by the diamond broaching. The station contains an area of four
acres and three roods.
At about half-a-mile distant from the station, in a south-east
direction, there have recently been discovered the foundations of some
Roman _cippi_ or funeral monuments. They are close by the road, and as
was usually the case, on the south side of it. Three of them are square,
the fourth, which is the largest, is circular. The masonry of all of
them is remarkably fresh. The circular tomb has two courses of stones
standing, besides the flat stones which form the foundation. On clearing
out the interior, a jar of unburnt clay was found; it had no bones in
it. The natural soil was found to have been acted upon by fire to the
depth of more than a foot. Mixed with the rubbish was a quantity of
white ashes. A coin of Alexander Severus was found within the area, a
circumstance which strengthens the presumption that the station was
occupied by the Romans until a late period.
There are several temporary camps in this neighbourhood. Persons well
acquainted with the country, and who have noticed the peculiar structure
of Roman roads, give it as their opinion that a Roman way has proceeded
eastwards from Rochester by Yatesfield, Potts-Durtrees, Yardhope,
Holystone, and Glanton, in a direction which renders it probable that it
joined that branch of Watling-street which traversed the eastern side of
Northumberland, and is often inelegantly termed the Devil’s-causeway.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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