Kasper Evers, Phd fellow and a former graduate from Lancaster, reveals the historical signifi-cance of Ambleside Roman fort.

THE hardy foundations of a ruined fortress jut out of a meadow on the shore of Windermere, near Waterhead.

These are the ancient remains of Ambleside Roman fort, built in the first century AD to become an important part of a chain of military roads, forts, and naval stations established in Cumbria as a western flank for the later Hadrian’s Wall.

The fort was excavated from 1912 onwards, and in 2001 a catalogue of findings was made available online by the Armitt Library and Museum. Combined with later discoveries, these findings make it possible to piece together a story, span-ning 300 years, of a fort subduing hostile natives while linking the Lakes with the furthest reaches of the Roman Empire.

However, few of the rare visitors to the unpretentious mounds on the green field seem to have an eye for the historical significance of the site: most just come to walk their dog or to take a picture of the lake.

The tension between soldiers and locals is revealed by a tombstone recounting that a Roman clerk was killed inside the fort by enemies, some time in the 3rd century AD. The 500-strong garrison must have been sorely pressed at times, if enemies managed to force their way inside the walls of the fort!

Moreover, a study of potsherds unearthed at the site sheds light on the goods imported throughout the fort’s period of use, ca. 100–400 AD.

Provisions were collected locally and from the rest of the province of Britain, but also from the more civilised and economically developed province of Gaul (present-day France), and even from as far away as Germany and North Africa.

In addition, the fort’s granaries were of such an impressive size that, combined with evidence of an extensive civilian settlement extending at least 700 metres north, and possible signs of a nearby jetty (on the bottom of the lake) for receiving supply ships, it seems likely that Ambleside Roman fort was, in fact, a regional centre and powerhouse back then.

Accordingly, the fort provides mute testimony –similar to that of the more famous Vindolanda tablets – of a world acting and dealing on a scale comparable to that of the EU several centuries before Anglo-Saxons ever embarked for Britain.

Have a look at the findings from the fort yourself at the Armitt Library and Museum, or download the catalogue of findings from the internet at http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/AmblesideRomanFort/index.cfm