The fort was named after the bridge, which usually was named after Hadrian’s family. Originally the Wall was to finish at Newcastle, which could have been accessed by shipping coming up the Tyne. It is likely that the Tyne was about 50 yards nearer the fort than it is today. The extension from Newcastle to Wallsend was begun before the Wall was completed overall.

The fort overlooked the river on high ground, and fell shapely to the river below. It must be remembered that the forts were added to the Wall after the building of the Wall began, and it is believed that the building started at Newcastle.

The entrance to the castle is by the Black Gate, which is just inside the northern wall of the Roman Fort.

The southern wall went through the car park above.

It is likely that a bridge over the Tyne was added prior to the building phase, but it could have been a temporary bridge, replaced by a new permanent bridge,

There is no information. From the bridge, the road went south to the fort at Chester le Street and ultimately to York. This road runs parallel to Dere St the main road crossing the Tyne at Corbridge In fact, none of the usual sources will give the bridge a location, although it is claimed to be under the Swing Bridge, a short distance from the south east corner of the fort and a few yards west of the famous Tyne Bridge seen here.

The bridge’s name being linked to Hadrian indicates a connection.

The fort surrounds the Norman keep and as can be seen above is heavily built over. The keep is built on the Headquarters Building and the remains of a corner and some of the commander’s houses are identified in the pavement. The size of the Headquarters Building reflects the small fort with a small hall and 3 small rooms with no courtyard.

There were 2 small granaries just to the north of the Headquarters Building, under the railway arches

At about 1.5/ 2 acres is arguably the smallest fort on the Wall (Drumburgh is the other possibility). The remains found appear to date from possibly the Severan period (late 2nd century to early 3rd century) and are some yards south of the Wall.

It appears unlikely that there was not a fort or fortlet near the end of the bridge until the Servian fort was built 80 years later, but nothing has been found, although the fort was only 2 miles from the cavalry fort at Benwell.

The identity of the garrisons is identified by an inscription dated 213 AD as the cohort of Cugernians originally from the lower Rhine and the fort was occupied into the fifth century. It probably was only half the cohort as it could only accommodate about 250 men.

The Norman keep is located near the east wall of the fort. The commander’s house has been identified with at least one under floor heated room.  The headquarters building has also been found, consisting of a cross hall with 3 rooms including a strong room at the back, but without a courtyard. Two small granaries were found in the northern part or the fort. The fort is thought to have measured 360ft by 200ft.

Later the fort was garrisoned by part of a British cohort, which is almost unique as British troops were generally only used overseas

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