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The third season of the new excavation campaignat Binchester commenced at the beginning ofJune and continued until the middle of August.This year saw major progress in both areas underexcavation especially that in the civil settlement(vicus) south-east of the fort. In both areas furtherevidence of very late Roman/immediate post-Roman activity has been recovered. This isunderstood more clearly by first giving a summaryof what was found in the 1970s/80s excavationson the site of the commanding officer’s house inthe centre of the fort. Here a sequence ofoccupation was revealed that continued down tothe end of the fourth century. But the story did notend there.

Use of the building continued well into the fifthcentury though in a manner very different fromthat for which it was originally designed. Severalfurnaces were inserted into one of the rooms inthe west wing of this formerly palatial buildingand from the associated debris appear to havebeen used for iron-smithing. Elsewhere, facing-stones from demolished walls were laid down toform a number of working-areas with associateddrains. Articulated cattle bones displaying signs ofbutchery suggest this part of the building hadbeen used as a slaughterhouse or abattoir. A large

dump of similar material produced a mass of findsincluding tens of thousands of pieces of animalbone, many with marks of butchery, and a numberof pole-axed cattle skulls. An area nearby seemsto have been used for bone-working. The dumpproduced a considerable number of iron knivesand knife blades as well as bone/antler toolhandles and pins. Pieces of jet/shale waste andsawn shale attest the manufacture of artefacts inthis material. Radiocarbon dates suggest thisphase most probably began in the very openingyears of the fifth century and, as the sequence of

Binchester Roman FortExcavation Project:Results of 2011 Season

Late/sub-Roman stone-lined pit

Aerial view of Binchester fort looking north

Overhead view Tr. 1 showing barrack building, intervallumroad and defences with medieval building in foreground

Archaeology County Durham

deposits and structures imply continued for atleast several decades. The author of the finalreport* – Iain Ferris - considered that this activitywas centrally organised and managed and should

not be regardedmerely as glorifiedsquatteroccupation. Hisopinion has nowbeen validated bythe results of thenew campaign ofexcavation. As described inprevious accountsin this magazinethe trench nowbeing excavatedin the east cornerof the fort haswithin it theremains of a long,narrowrectangularbuilding. This canreasonably be

assumed to be either a barrack or stable, orpossibly – given that Binchester seems to havebeen a cavalry garrison for much if not all of itsexistence – a building combining both functions ofthe type found in some cavalry forts. The buildingis rather narrow for such a purpose at c. 7 metresbut the fact the intervallum road to the south-eastis much wider than that to the north-eastsuggests that it may originally have been wider.Indeed, traces of what may have been the originalsouthern outer wall of the building are beginningto emerge in the intervallum area and this wouldgive it a width of c 11 metres, much closer to theusual dimension. Beyond the intervallum elements of the defencesare gradually being revealed including the angletower at the east corner, parts of a neighbouringinterval tower to the north-east and a particularlyfine example of a bread-oven set into the back ofthe south-eastern rampart.

The latest use of the putative barrack building sawthe construction of several discrete areas ofpaving within its interior associated with whichwere a number of stone and clay lined pits. Otherexamples of such pits were found this year toeither side of the building, one almost 5 metres in

diameter. Most appear to have their liningsrepaired or replaced several times and some wereassociated with gullies.

The paving ran up to the outer walls of thebuilding but the partition walls appear to havelargely disappeared by this time. Whether thesuperstructure of the building was still upstandingat this stage or whether the walls were merelybeing used as convenient borders for the paving isas yet unclear. The discovery of a couple ofpossible post-settings cut into the top of the

surviving masonry suggests the latter might havebeen the case. This interpretation might also beindicated by the nature of the activity associatedwith these features. The deposits over and besidethe paving as well as the fill of the pits themselvescontained numerous fragments of animal bone,including many cattle jaw-bones and a number ofskulls just like the similar features found on the

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Base of bread-oven at back of rampart

late/sub-Roman stone-lined pit with adjacent paving

Binchester Plan Tr 1

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praetorium site. The processing of animal bone toenable the manufacture of everyday objects wasclearly taking place here, too, and possibly alsothe soaking and preparation of animal hides forthe production of leather goods. A much smallerpit cut into the clay rampart of the fort seems tohave functioned as a water storage feature and anarrow gulley led directly from this to a largesunken area within the building.

As excavation has progressed more of the northwall of the building has been exposed and,unsurprisingly, several phases of masonry arediscernible in its fabric. The lower (and obviouslyearlier) portion of the wall is characterised byregular courses of neatly dressed facing-stoneswhile the upper course is formed of much largerand roughly finished blocks, some laidtransversely. In one section there is a layer of soilseparating the two types of masonry suggesting aperiod of abandonment after the building hadbeen demolished followed by a subsequentrebuilding.

In the trench outside the fort to the south-east a40 metre long stretch of the latest surface of DereStreet has been revealed, lying only 20centimetres below the surface of the field, alongwith the outlines of several buildings fronting ontoits north-east side. Lying closest to the fort andimmediately adjacent to a side-street surfacedwith very large paving slabs was a small,rectangular ‘strip-building’ measuring 5 by 13metres with walls of neatly dressed masonry. Adoorway about 2 metres wide occupied thesouthern part of the wall facing out onto thestreet while the northern half was closed withmasonry set on an enormous stone slab. Itsinterior awaits exploration. Adjacent to thisbuilding and separated by a gap of less than 0.40metres there stood a second building with similardimensions. Stone-robbing had removed largesections of its walls but even so it was plain thatthese were of inferior construction to those of theneighbouring building. Quite possibly it was builtat a later date than its neighbour. Indeed, thestyle of masonry bears more than passingresemblance to the latest walling of the barrackdescribed above. A furnace or kiln wasconstructed inside this building at a late stage inits history.

Plan of Trench 2 (in vicus) at end of 2011 season

Re-assembled grave of female adult buried c. 550 AD in debris-filled furnace-house ofcommanding officer’s baths-suite

Archaeology County Durham

The buildings just described are much smallerthan those on the opposite side of the streetexamined in the late nineteenth century duringexcavations conducted by the Reverend Robert EliHooppell, the majority of which were around 10metres wide and upwards of 35 metres long. Apossible explanation for this is provided by thecharacter of the third building recently uncovered.Unlike the two strip-buildings just described thiscontinues beyond the confines of the trench bothto the east and to the south. It was also ofsuperior quality both in terms of construction andappointments. Two rooms lay within the trenchwith a porch-like structure attached to thefrontage apparently of later date. Wall-plastersurvives in situ within the latter while a patch ofconcrete still adheres to the face of one of thewalls in the larger room. Immediately east of thetrench a depression in the field surface denotesthe spot where the 1870s excavators uncovered acircular hypocausted chamber. This is almostcertainly part of the regimental bath-building andthe rooms just described seem likely to belong tothe same building. Assuming this followed theusual row-type plan and extended northwards thiswould explain why the two neighbouring buildingswere so small because there was only a narrowstrip of ground between the baths and DereStreet.

Among the more notable finds recovered in 2011were two inscriptions, both from Trench 2 in thevicus. Although only fragmentary the larger andmore impressive of the two bears four partial linesof text from the bottom right hand corner of adedication slab. Little sense can be made of thetop line as so little survives and the break in thestone cuts the letters in half horizontally. However

the second line clearly contains the word sacellum– a shrine – the next cui praeest – dedicated by –and the final line .]quitum. The latter is thoughtmost likely to be equitum preceded by praefectus,in other words the commander of the cavalry unitoccupying the fort. While temples and shrineswere normally situated on the periphery of thebuilt-up area close to cemeteries religiousdedications such as this do occur in bath-buildings; usually, and understandably, to deitiesconcerned with healing, good health and well-being such as Aesculapius, Hygeia and Salus. Thesecond inscription occurs on a small portablealtar. It is so faint as to be undecipherable atpresent but further analysis and specialisedphotography may well reveal the text in duecourse.

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Overhead view of medieval building and later malting(?) kilnbottom right

Small portable altar with faint inscription

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The latest floor levels in the two rooms of thebath-building lying within the trench had beenremoved as they too were the setting for twomore of the bone/hide processing pits. Thenorthern of the pair was the largest encounteredso far occupying the whole of the room’s interiorand measuring almost 6 metres across. Thesewere the only pits of this type to be encounteredin this trench and interestingly, like those insidethe fort, the stone lining ran up to but not over thewalls of the room. As elsewhere animal bonefragments – including numerous cattle jaw bonesand the occasional skull - occurred freelythroughout the associated deposits. The fact thatthese pits were absent from the two neighbouringbuildings may indicate these were still in use atthis period. Pieces of raw jet/shale as well asfragments of objects in this material wereretrieved from their surroundings indicatingmanufacture was taking place and againparalleling the situation on the praetorium site.

Initial assessment of the ceramic assemblagerecovered so far indicates that regular potterysupplies were still reaching both fort and vicus atleast as late as the 380s. Similarly, freshly mintedcoins were arriving at the site into the 390s (morethan 1,000 have already been recovered in thenew work). It seems quite clear that occupation ofthe civil settlement, or at least that part of it lyingsouth-east of the fort, continued down to the endof the fourth century. This contrasts with thesituation at a number of other forts in the North,especially along or close to Hadrian’s Wall, wherethe vicus seems to go out of use around AD 300.

Possibly relevant to the later history of theBinchester vicus are the two parallel and closelyspaced ditches detected by GSB Prospection’sgeophysical survey of 2007 as part of a Time Teamprogramme. These appear to originate from theeast corner of the fort to run roughly parallel withDere Street before beginning to turn sharply to thesouth-west just before the modern field boundary.Could they belong to a system of defences erectedto protect this part of the vicus in the late Romanperiod?

Although the precise function of the pits and theirassociated platforms won’t be known untilchemical analysis of samples from their fills hasbeen completed it seems fairly certain that theyrepresent the same sort of activity as that foundpreviously on the praetorium site. Similarly, whilemore reliable dating will depend on the results ofthe radiocarbon dating of several dozen samplesone early result supports the impression gainedfrom the stratigraphic and structural sequencethat this activity also dates to the very end of thefourth century and/or more probably the first halfof the fifth century. With such occupation nowfound on two widely spaced sites within the fortand also in part of the vicus it looks as though asignificant area of the Roman site continued to beoccupied well into the fifth century. Furthermorethe scale of this industrial activity suggests itspractitioners were supplying a market well beyondthe boundaries of Vinovium itself or, alternatively,that the population of Binchester in this periodwas greater than previously imagined.

Overhead view of Trench 2 showing Dere Street andbuildings on north-east side

Remains of building at south end of trench – perhaps partof bath-building

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Iain Ferris, author of the report on the 1970s/80sexcavations, considered that the activities of thisperiod – which included the systematic removal ofthe metal fittings from the bathhouse – spoke of acommunity that was still well-organised anddwelling in a place that had retained itsimportance. The results of the new campaign ofwork have already confirmed and reinforced thatinterpretation. The implication is of continuity ofoccupation on a considerable scale. Despitesuccessive troop withdrawals beginning in the380s and culminating with the forces taken to thecontinent by successive usurpers in the openingyears of the fifth century it is possible that aresidue of the garrison remained at Binchesteralong presumably with a proportion of the vicuspopulation. We may have a situation like thatpostulated by John Casey, Tony Wilmott andothers at certain of the forts along Hadrian’s Wallwhere a much reduced garrison evolved into anautonomous unit which continued to control thesurrounding area (perhaps formerly the fort’s

territorium), providing protection for its populationwho in return continued to supply it withfoodstuffs and other materials. It is only a smallstep from this situation to the emergence of pettykingdoms ruled over by a chieftain or clan-leadersupported by his personal retinue of warriors. The work of the 1970s/80s also produced evidencefor later occupation at the site. Inserted into thedebris filling the western furnace-chamber of thebaths was an adult female burial. The body hadbeen laid on its back in a crouched position andwas accompanied by grave-goods. These includeda string of twenty-six beads, a very coarsehandmade bowl, and a reversed S-shaped copper-alloy brooch with birds’ head terminals of a typebroadly dated to the late fifth and early sixthcenturies AD. The latter in conjunction withradiocarbon dating suggests the burial occurredaround AD 550.

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Large late/sub-Roman stone-lined pit cut through intervallum road

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This discovery prompted the radiocarbon dating ofapproximately fifty burials, none with grave goods,found during excavations carried out in 1971ahead of the extension of what was then theBinchester Hall Hotel along with a few othersfound during later utility works in the vicinity.These were all thought to be post-medieval indate but the radiocarbon dating showed theyspanned the period from around AD 600 to 1000.Along with examples of other burials found duringevaluation excavations in more recent years theyindicate the presence of an extensive Anglo-Saxoncemetery, and by implication a settlement, withinthe confines of the former Roman fort. It ispossible that the early female burial here was ofsomeone of high status or reputation whose gravebecame the focus for the location of a latercemetery.

At some time around AD 675 the church atEscomb, 2 km upriver, was built incorporating inits fabric masonry robbed from the ruined Romanbuildings at Binchester along with a smallcollection of inscriptions. Documentary evidencefrom both Symeon of Durham and the BoldonBook (1183) suggests Binchester had become anestate centre by the twelfth century. Its demise asa settlement may have been prompted by theestablishment during that same century of aresidence at neighbouring Bishop Auckland by thePrince Bishops of Durham which in due course ledto the area around it becoming the principalsettlement focus in the area.

David Mason

(This is a five-year programme of investigation undertakenas a partnership between the County Council’s ArchaeologyService, the Archaeology Departments of Durham andStanford Universities along with the Archaeological &Architectural Society of Durham & Northumberland.Management of the site work is undertaken by staff ofDurham University’s Archaeological Services. The projecthas been made possible by the Church Commissioners whoown the land and by English Heritage who grantedScheduled Ancient Monument Consent for theinvestigations. As well as providing training forundergraduates in the form of an international field-schoolthe project also incorporates a ‘community archaeology’element (funded by DCC Archaeology aided by grants fromEnglish Heritage in 2010 and 2011) enabling local people toget directly involved in the investigation of their past.)

Information about Binchester Roman Fort, how to getthere and opening times as well as the best time to visitthe excavations can be found on Durham County Council’swebsite: www.durham.gov.uk/archaeology

A daily blog is maintained throughout each season by DrDavid Petts, one of the Project Managers from DurhamUniversity: www.durham.ac.uk/archaeology

The final report on the 1970s/80s excavations:The Beautiful Rooms are Empty by Iain Ferris, (hardback, 2vols, 605pp – ISBN 9781907445019) is available fromDurham County Council’s Archaeology Section, TheRivergreen Centre, Aykley Heads, Durham DH1 5TS. Price£35.00 + £8.00 p&p.

A more popular synthesis of the report is also available.Iain Ferris, Vinovia: The Buried Roman City of Binchester inNorthern England. Amberley Publishing 2011. price£16.99. www.amberleybooks.com

Blocked window embrasure in front wall of bath-building

Close-up of fragment of inscription recording dedication ofshrine by the commanding officer of the cavalry garrison