CILURNUM
It was the late Mr. John Clayton of Chesters who laid the foundation
of the new knowledge of the Wall which excavation has brought to
light. As other people collect antiquities to put in a glass case,
so he collected the Roman Wall. Whenever a piece of ground along its
line was in the market, he was first in the field to buy it; and to
his zeal and knowledge it is due that so much has been preserved and
excavated. It was his life-work. Therefore it is no mere figure of
speech to say that a visit to the Roman Wall is a visit to his
shrine; and since Chesters was his home for so many years, the Museum
there, and the very fort of Cilurnum itself are especially
commemorative of him and his work.
All the forts along the line follow a general plan, though each has
its distinctive features. In plan they are parallelograms, with
rounded corners, enclosed by a stone wall at least 5 feet thick, with
a circumscribing ditch, and with gateways north, south, east and west.
{85}
[Illustration: Fig. 8.--Plan of the Fort of Cilurnum at Chesters.
(From _Archæologia Æliana_.)]
These gateways have double portals, which were arched over, and were
closed by two-leaved wooden doors, swinging on pivots shod with iron.
The doors shut against a stone set up in the centre, or else against
a stone threshold. The pivot-holes can very {86} often be seen, and
sometimes the iron sheath is still in the pivot-hole, although the
wooden door has perished.
In the case of this fort of Cilurnum, as also at Amboglanna, there
were six gateways altogether, two smaller ones to the south of the
main eastern and western gateways; these had only one portal instead
of two.
[Illustration: Fig. 9.--Fortification Turrets from Trajan's Column.
(After John Ward.)]
A guard-chamber was always set on either side of each main gateway;
there was a turret just within each rounded corner of the fort, and
intermediate turrets were set along the walls.
The appearance of these turrets may be surmised from the
fortification-turrets shown on Trajan's column.
{87}
Chambers above gateways are also shown on Trajan's column, which
suggest to the mind's eye a possible reconstruction of the single
gateways of the Wall-forts.
[Illustration: Fig. 10.--Fortification Gates from Trajan's Column.
(After John Ward.)]
It is generally accepted that the twin flanking-towers of the double
fort-gateways, and also the Wall turrets, were carried up from one
and a half times to twice the height of the wall (whether fort-wall
or Great Wall). The rampart-walk is reckoned to have run at a height
of from 13 to 15 feet from the ground, so that it would pass over a
gate quite horizontally, and without steps. It would be continued
right through the towers and turrets, passing through doorways in
their side walls, and across the floor of their upper storey.
Mr. John Ward (in _Romano-British Buildings and Earthworks_, p. 70)
calls attention also to a gate {88} figured on a mosaic in the
Avignon Museum, as suggesting the possible character of the double
gates on the Wall-line.
Frequently the great Wall aligns itself with the northern wall of the
forts, as at Borcovicium, Æsica and Amboglanna; but sometimes, as
here at Cilurnum, it strikes the fort about one-third way along the
eastern and western walls, leaving one-third, including a gateway, to
project northwards into the enemy's country. This looks as if the
garrison could not have lived in a constant state of warfare.
[Illustration: Fig. 11.--Gate of a Fort on a mosaic in the Avignon
Museum. From _Collectanea Antiqua_. (After John Ward.)]
Streets run between the north and south gateways and the east and
west, in every case. Where they cross are the central buildings,
which were called the "Forum" by Mr. Clayton. But that is a civil
term. Probably the more correct term is "Principia," to indicate the
H.Q. building of a military unit.
{89}
This always includes an open courtyard, surrounded by a covered
colonnade, the bases of whose piers are still to be seen here at
Chesters, as also the gutter-stones to carry off the drippings from
the roof.
Roofing-tiles are found, made of a grey shaly sandstone, which would
readily cut into thin slabs. They are almost square, and were hung
angularly, from one corner, on nails driven into wooden beams, as the
rust in the holes still shows. This kind of roofing slab is used up
to the present day, but it is hung on a wooden peg. At one period
they used to be hung on sheep-bones thrust in under the beams.
The Romans also used red pantiles, specimens of which are found here.
The entrance to the Principia always faced the main gate of the fort
(the north gate at Cilurnum, the east gate at Borcovicium). At the
far end was a series of five small office-rooms, of which the middle
one was the most important. It was the _sacellum_ or Chapel of the
Standards, the centre of the religious life and of the _esprit de
corps_ of the cohort or _ala_ which occupied the fort. It was a
constant feature of all Roman forts. The standards themselves, which
were deposited there, were objects of worship. They bore a medallion
or effigy of the reigning Emperor, and thus these Chapels were the
official centres of {90} "Emperor-worship," a cult actively
propagated by the government for political motives. The fact that
Christians refused to join in this cult, and thereby committed a
political offence, was the initial cause of their persecution.
Here, in the _sacellum_, the deferred pay of the soldiers was
deposited until it became due to them on their discharge. Here also
were kept the army pay-sheets, an actual example of which has been
found in the sands of Egypt.
At Cilurnum a strong room has been constructed, evidently in a later
and more disturbed period. It is entered by steps leading down from
the _sacellum_, and lies under the office-room next to the _sacellum_
on the east, blocking that room in such a way as to prove it could be
no part of the original plan. Early in the nineteenth century the
heavy oak door of the strong room, studded with nails, was still in
place, but it perished when exposed to the air. A slab of stone has
been thrown (probably by invaders) across the flight of steps, so
that in descending them one has to stoop very low.
The arched roof of the strong room is formed by a series of large
stones "stepping over" each other; and its back wall is also "stepped
over," so as to make it incline towards the roof.
On my last visit I saw a blackbird's nest neatly tucked in between
the stones of this roof. It contained three young ones, with their
mouths {91} perpetually open--creatures of one idea, for the time.
There had been five eggs, but tourists had taken two away, as
mementoes of Cilurnum.
The colonnade of the Principia at Cilurnum consisted of neat piers
made of specially small stones, instead of the circular columns that
are found elsewhere. The paving is beautiful; but there are
indications that it covers an earlier floor. The chamfered bases of
the piers go below the level of the present paving-stones, which may
some day be removed, and the original floor-level reached and dated.
It would be interesting to see in what state of preservation that
floor would be found.
In this outer court there is a round well, still half full of water;
the stones are all the original Roman work except the top row. There
are "set-backs" at intervals down the sides of the well, to form
footholds when it was necessary to descend it. Its workmanship is
beautiful.
Another necessary and constant feature in the inner arrangement of a
Roman fort was the pair of granaries, often set close together, side
by side. These granaries were the strongest of the inner buildings.
Their walls were thick and heavily buttressed, and their floors
supported either on dwarf walls, or on pillars, to provide for the
circulation of air underneath them and so prevent damp.
The remains of the granaries at Cilurnum have {92} unfortunately been
removed; they stood to the south-west of the Principia.
A very important find in a guard-chamber at Cilurnum was what is
known as the "Chesters Diploma," a bronze tablet, conferring the
privileges of Roman citizenship on certain soldiers who had earned it
by faithful service. It is now in the British Museum. Dr. Bruce
gives a full description of it in his _Handbook to the Roman Wall_.
The barracks are another essential feature of a Roman fort.
At Cilurnum these were situated to the north of the Principia, and
important remains are to be seen in the north-eastern section of the
fort area.
There was probably accommodation for six companies of one hundred
men, ten men in a room. The Asturians who formed the garrison came
from a mountainous district in the north of Spain, where it is quite
as cold as the valley of the North Tyne. The hardy mountain ponies
they brought with them were known as _Asturco_ by the Romans. The
stables have not been identified. The barrack-rooms had a covered
way or verandah running in front, with a series of columns, some of
whose bases remain. A massive stone gutter runs down the middle of
the street between the barracks. They probably had little pent-house
roofs. When the rooms were excavated they were full of pottery,
bones, oyster-shells, and rubbish of all kinds, giving {93} a very
bad impression of the standard of refinement and comfort of the last
occupiers.
To the east of the Principia is what is most probably the residence
of the commandant, with private baths, as well as dwelling-rooms,
elaborately heated by means of hypocausts. The building was finely
designed and finished. A beautiful moulding runs round the base, and
also round the buttress.
The site of the furnace is close to a large yew-tree; it is
semi-circular, and the fuel for it was wood. The hot gases and smoke
were drawn under the floors of the rooms, which were supported on
hypocaustal pillars of burnt clay tiles mortared together, or of
stones such as are used in the walls. Brick tiles were used nearest
the furnace, because the heat would have cracked the stone.
Fragments of circular columns are also used, but these are diverted
from their original purpose. The floors of the rooms were of double
slabs of stones, cemented together, so as to prevent the smoke from
coming up through the floors.
The tiles were roughened with a tool usually, to give a grip to the
mortar. Accidental marks, made on them when wet, are often seen: the
footprints of dogs, dents from the nails of a sandal, thumb-marks,
showing the lines of the skin, and the mark of a man's bare foot,
showing the great toe.
The baths had been cemented all over with pink cement, probably made
with brick-dust. The rooms {94} were plastered inside, and the
plaster decorated with deep red, terre-verte and yellow ochre.
Evidently they had been replastered sometimes over the paint, and
coloured again on the top, just as we put on successive wall-papers.
The level of the floors had been raised nearly 3 feet since the
building was first made.
Over its ruined walls there grows the pretty little purple "Erinus
Alpinus," which is said by some to have made a mysterious appearance
only since the excavations were begun. Did it spring from seed which
had long lain dormant, having been originally brought from Spain by
one of the Asturians who garrisoned this fort?
It is an attractive legend, and I would like to believe it true; but
the hard cold fact is that somebody remembers its having been
deliberately planted on the ruins after the excavations were made!
A very interesting point which must not be missed is the way in which
the stone thresholds of the gateways have been worn by the
chariot-wheels passing over them. It must have been a dreadful jolt
for the occupants to cross these high thresholds when they were new,
but Roman soldiers were of course above minding little things like
that! The ruts are just over 4 feet 6½ inches apart, exactly the
distance of the wheel-marks we see in the streets of Pompeii.
{95}
The Vallum runs into the circumscribing ditch at Cilurnum; that is to
say, the two ditches coalesce at the south of the fort.
What has been called the Roman "Villa" at Cilurnum is now definitely
recognized as the bath-house provided for the comfort of the troops,
or perhaps for the officers only. It is the best-preserved building
on the Wall-line, one of its chambers still standing twenty-three
courses of stones, or 9½ feet high.
The great storehouse at Corstopitum, which might claim to rival it,
is 2½ miles south of the Wall.
There is a great bath-house built for the local garrison at
Ravenglass which is even more striking, as its walls are standing
almost their whole height. It was excavated in 1881.
The position of the buildings at Cilurnum, outside the fort walls, at
the foot of a slope and close to the river, where the soil has been
washed down and has covered them up, accounts for their excellent
preservation.
The baths are entered now (by a flight of wooden steps) just at the
point where the original entrance doorway stood. An outer lobby led
into what appears to have been the unrobing and anointing room, a
very large flagged chamber, with seven round-arched stone niches on
the west wall. There has been much speculation about their use, and
{96} nothing certain is known, but it is suggested that they may have
been cupboards for the bathers to hang their clothes in.
From this apartment one passes into a lobby, giving access to the hot
rooms, to the right, and to the cold rooms, with a fountain, to the
left. Straight forward is the final "rest-and-amusements" room,
which has flues in the form of a cross.
Turning out of this is another chamber, also with cross-flues, and
with a semi-circular apse, out of which opens a splayed window, 4
feet wide. Roman window-glass, of a bluish-green, was found on the
ground outside this window. The glass is not very transparent,
having probably been poured out on a flat surface when made. It is
very rare to find examples of Roman windows, because buildings are
hardly ever preserved up to the window-level. These walls are
twenty-three courses of stones high, or about 9½ feet.
There are two hot rooms, one leading out of the other, and both
heated by hypocausts. The jambs of the doorway between them are
single stones, each 6 feet high. The walls of one chamber stand 7½
feet high.
The furnace lies beyond these two rooms and is immediately behind the
wall with the seven niches.
[Illustration: THE BATH-HOUSE AT CILURNUM, SEEN ACROSS THE NORTH
TYNE.]
There are remains of the concrete vaultings of the rooms, and in
several instances there are double thresholds, where the floor levels
have been raised. {97} We see also drainage arrangements for
carrying the water down to the river.
Altogether this is a most interesting building, and it is a pity that
no inscriptions have been found here which would fix definitely its
date and its purpose.
As seen across the North Tyne it is very inconspicuous, because the
grassy river-bank hides it. The soil having in the course of ages
washed down and buried the building, now that it has been excavated
it stands in a hollow. However, the seven arches of the
unrobing-room are very plainly seen. The yew-tree, behind the cows
in the picture, marks the situation of the furnace for the heating
arrangements of the Commandant's house.
The western abutment of the Roman bridge can sometimes be seen in the
water under the trees to the right.
I was sitting painting here one day when the river was very dry; the
stones showed me much more of themselves than I wanted to see. I
said to myself: "I do wish the river would fill up a little." Almost
immediately after, I looked up, and it had filled up a little, just
about enough to suit my purpose. I hardly had time to be thankful
before it had risen a good deal more than enough, and in a very short
time there was not a stone to be seen. This was indeed too much of a
good thing! I realized that the river had "come down," as they {98}
call it. It was now rushing madly along, getting very brown and
frothy, and boughs of trees were beginning to be borne along on its
current. When I went home to lunch, I met a dead sheep being carried
along, and at the _George_ they told me that Barrasford Ferry was
impassable. Haughton Castle had telephoned to say so, and to ask to
have its friends coming by rail stopped at Humshaugh Station.
No wonder ardent fishers are warned to be careful when fishing in
these northern streams.
Another day, when I was painting here and the stream was fairly low,
I was entertained by the antics of a merry party of girls. They kept
crossing and recrossing the river by means of very inadequate
stepping-stones, and at last two of them tumbled in. They made no
trouble of it, but took off their pink cotton frocks and hung them up
in a tree to dry, put on their waterproofs, and went off to view the
fort. Meantime the cows came down to the river to drink, and,
curious as cows always are, they began licking the dresses until at
last they licked them off the tree. I on my side of the stream was
powerless to help. Finally they went off, leaving the dresses in a
huddled heap of pink, and wetter than ever, I should think. I was
only thankful that they had not shared the fate of a blue woollen
motor-scarf on the banks of the Dee, which was hung over the back of
a car by its owner while {99} she went fishing. She returned to see
the last six inches disappearing down the throat of a cow! She was
left frivolously wondering whether, in its new sphere of influence,
it would turn the milk blue.
* * * * * * *
One more word about Cilurnum. In the church at Chollerton, about 1½
miles up the North Tyne from Chollerford, the columns of the south
side of the nave bear evidence of Roman origin, and no one who is
following the Wall should miss seeing them. They are round columns,
each consisting of a single stone, and are of the same diameter and
general character as portions of shafts found at Cilurnum. It is
more than likely that they were stolen from the ruined fort to occupy
their present position, and that to this they owe their perfect
preservation.
{100}