Halton Chesters Roman Fort
Halton Roman Fort 3rd century
Halton Chesters Roman Fort is a mile east of the gate where Dere St passes through the Wall (very close to Errington Arms) and 7 miles west of Rudchester is Halton, again bisected by the Military Road. It is only 6 miles east of Chesters, initially built about 126AD by the 6th Legion. It has been excavated but you can only visible see that there are remains under the grass. It appears not to have been ploughed.
There must be some impressive ruins if it is ever exposed.
Looking North and West Looking North to HQ building Looking West
The original garrison was probably a mixed infantry and cavalry unit.
Halton Chesters Roman fort was originally 4.37 acres in size, later to be extended in the 3rd century AD to 4.87 acres, making the only L shaped fort on the wall. This was probably done to accommodate the cavalry unit.
A dedicatory slab from the west gate of the fort tells us that the Sixth Legion was responsible for the initial building work, but unfortunately, does not give us the name of the original garrison. The garrison in the 3rd and 4th centuries was the Ala I Pannoniorum, a 500 cavalry unit.
There is a headquarters building 160ft long and a commander’s house with the usual courtyard configuration built in the early 3rd century. The bathhouse is probably later 3rd century in the later North West corner. Unusual in that it is inside the fort. Granaries have been found, the rest of the above diagram is conjecture and it is likely that the barracks and stables were not separate buildings, with the troopers located next to the horses.
East and south of the fort was an extramural settlement, identified by geophysics.