Binchester Roman Fort

Come and See for Yourself

Binchester opened on the 22 March 2008 and will close to the public on 30 September 2008. The fort is open 10am - 5pm during July and August and 11am - 5pm in April -June and September.

Explore the impressive remains of a Roman bath house with its amazing 1,700 year old under floor heating system. Find out why taking a bath in Roman time was about more than just getting clean! Walk in the footsteps of the soldiers around the remains of the Commander's House - see if you can find the beast of Binchester among the ruins.

Families with children can download the worksheets in the information for schools and families section.

For more information, please contact either the site warden during site opening hours on tel: 01388 663089, or the Archaeology Officer at other times on tel: 0191 3708712 or email Archaeology.

Visiting Binchester Roman Fort

Background History

Binchester was the largest Roman fort in County Durham. A small part has been excavated and is open to view and to visit. However, most of the fort and the remains of the nearby civilian settlement still lie buried in the surrounding fields.

Binchester Roman Fort

A Brief History of Binchester Fort

For over 300 years, Binchester Roman Fort was occupied for. To begin with, soldiers in this fort did not come from this area; they came from all over the Roman Empire. We know that a cavalry unit from Spain was here in the 2nd century AD and that a unit originally made up of Dutch tribesmen was here in the 3rd century AD.

Binchester Fort was built in the second half of the first century AD, when the Roman army was asserting its power in the north east of England. Originally, the fort was built in wood: when the Romans knew they would be in the area for a long time, it was rebuilt in stone.

The Roman army had two main purposes:

Guard the frontier of the Empire
Quash any native rebellion

They also carried out civil administration, and police work. There is evidence of legions building aqueducts, and of course, the Romans built roads everywhere. They were expert builders and were sometimes asked to carry out difficult building work – for example the cavalry at Binchester rebuilt the baths at Bowes fort.

Forts were used to control river crossings, to give access to mountain passes, or to protect important road junctions. The fort was an important military building: it was the base for a garrison of soldiers to control and protect the surrounding countryside. The Binchester Fort is well placed to protect the point where Dere Street crossed the River Wear. Dere Street was a key Roman Road running from York to Scotland.

Vicus

A small town developed around the fort where the soldiers' families lived- this is called a vicus. Like any town, this had shops, inns and a market place where farmers, craftsmen and merchants in the surrounding area would come to trade.

The soldiers would visit to buy extra food, perhaps some luxuries they could not get inside the fort. They would also spend some of their free time here and they would perhaps visit the local brothel, and pub.

Re-enactors at Binchester

After the Romans

When the Anglo-Scandinavians (the northern equivalent of Anglo-Saxons) invaded, life changed. We do not know what happened at Binchester, but it seems that the fort continued to be the site of a village in this period. The body of an Anglo-Scandinavian woman has been found in the bath-house and an Anglo-Scandinavian cemetery has been uncovered on the edge of the Roman fort.

When building the church at Escomb in the 7th century the Anglo-Scandinavians used stones from Binchester Fort. In fact, you can still many Roman inscriptions on the walls of the Church. During the later Saxon period a small village grew up here which survived until the end of the Middle Ages. The present nursing home, itself an important 17th century building, is on the site of the medieval Binchester manor house.

Other Archaeological Pages

You can also find out more about who the Archaeology Section are.