Aldborough Roman Town
The Roman called it Isurium Brigantum. Isurium was the Roman name for the River Ure, while Brigantum refers to the tribe.
Location
Aldborough Roman Town is located south east of Boroughbridge, east of the A1m close to Junction 48 (YO51 9ET).
Aldborough Roman Town
It is located on Dere St about 16 miles north of York and about 22 miles south of Catterick Roman Town. An English Heritage site is located south of the village on Front Street, and covers a small part of the South West corner of the walled town
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ALDBOROUGH-ROMAN-TOWN-DIAGRAM
The diagram shows the English Heritage area in light grey, the current buildings in dark grey and the few visible remains in black. The walls, the forum and Arena/Amphitheatre are shown in red. The roman streets are shown in green as a grid system except that the east west road and forum are out alignment and indicate that they existed prior to the decision built the site as a typical planned Roman town. The walls cover 54 acres, a similar size to Corbridge, but there was a large area north of walled town which also occupied.
Inside the walls, the north of the town was on the level. South of the town was on a slope, which was terraced for the courtyard townhouses.
History
In about 71AD a fort was built a mile upstream from the site that became Aldborough Roman Town., Roecliffe, the site of the fort is just west of Boroughbridge and the A1M. It was probably one of the first forts build during the invasion of the Brigantian territory by Cerialis British Governor, who was appointed to occupy the north. The fort was built to control the river crossing of River Ure and was evaluated in 85AD.
ALDBOROUGH-LOCATION SOUTH OF THE URE
A fort has not been found at Aldborough, finds indicate a military presence. It is not surprising because the Roman Town was built on top followed by a village dating from the medieval period. By 85AD Dere Street had been built linking York to Corbridge and beyond running through the site, which became Aldborough Roman Town
By 85AD Reocliffe would have needed rebuilding as it was a timber and turf fort. The crossing was moved to 500 yards north and a mile west of Aldborough to accommodate Dere St. Therefore it seems likely that the new fort would have been built under what became Aldborough Roman Town.
There is little evidence of an existing community before the Roman Invasion of Brigantia.
With little archaeology conducted on site little is known, a Vindolanda tablet (185) refers to expenses of a visit to York via Isurium, buying wine, indicating a civil community at the end of 1st century AD.
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The walls were built around the beginning of the third century, at least 70 years before most town walls were built in Britain. It was over 15ft high and 8ft thick with a 20ft ditch on the outside and earthen bank behind it. There were interval tower built on the back of the wall. The overall length of the wall was over 2 miles. It would have been a major undertaking.
The wall was enhanced over the years, with some towers projecting in front of the wall. In the fourth century, the existing ditch was backfilled, replaced by 2 ditches with a total width of 120ft making one of the most impressive in the north. The River Ure was navigable as far as the site just north of the settlement, this could be the reason.
The town’s status was raised to a Civitas, becoming the regional capital of Brigantian territory up to the Wall, probably covering the area east of the Pennines. This gave it a similar status to Carlisle, the only two Civitas north of York.
Aldborough Roman Town was inhabited by Britain’s in the main. Unlike most of the north, its inhabitants had adapted the Roman lifestyles and by the end 2nd century would probably consider themselves “Roman”.
The town prospered throughout the 3rd and 4th century and possibly into 5th century, there is little information.
Description
Most of the village is inside the site of the Roman town therefore few of the remains are visible.
The English Heritage site is located in the south west corner of the Roman town and current village. Just north of the town’s Southgate and the museum containing finds from the 19th century. Further west in a garden established before it was donated to the Nation was a corner tower, a section of wall and an interval tower.
A few yards north of the small museum are 2 small buildings containing 2 remarkable mosaics from 2 deluxe townhouses.
Outside the South West corner was a quarry, from which some of the stone came.
ARENA-SE-OF-ALDBOROUGH
South East of the village is the Amphitheatre, heading south out of the village; it can be seen in a field on the left. It was surprisingly one the largest in Britain, but it was never a large stone structure, more earth mounds similar to that found at Caerleon at the legionnaire fortress.
ALDBOROUGH-ROMAN-FORUM-SITE
In the centre of the village is St Andrew’s Church. It was built on the site of the Roman Forum, which was the market, meeting place and administrative centre for the town.
ROMAN-TOWN-FORUM
It would be similar to this representation of the forum at Leicester
The Brigantes
The Brigantes were different from most British Celtic tribes as they were a confederation without direct central control. They covered a far larger area than the other tribes and probably had the largest population, which may have cushioned from the external tribal rivalry which was endemic in Britain in the early 1st century AD.
Aldborough-Map-of-Britanges-Tribal-Territory
At the times of the invasion, the British tribes were offered the status of ally, by which they maintained their internal independence. The main limitation as they were not allowed to attack or invade other tribes, before the invasion, this was a major occupation.
Aldborough Roman Town was a Roman invention, and it became the Roman Capital of Brigantia.