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Lanchester (Longovicium) Roman Fort

The information below represents a successful HLF project by the 'Friends of the Fort' of Lanchester, which has helped to create a educational resource for Lanchester Roman Fort. The following organisations were involved with the project Groundwork West Durham and Darlington, Derwentside Education and Training Forum, Durham County Council, Derwentside District Council, The Mineral Valleys Project, Leadership+ and One North East.


A Brief History of Lanchester

Longovicium was the name given to the place we now call Lanchester. The fort was built in the second century AD. It was on an army supply route called Dere Street which went from York to Scotland. Dere Street would be a route used for taking supplies from York to Hadrian's Wall.

The fort had four sides, each with a gateway. Guard towers probably stood to the left and right of each gateway. At each corner and along each side there were smaller towers. We do not know much about the buildings inside the fort at Longovicium but a barrack block, a bath house and two rooms with under-floor heating have been found.

Outside the fort, remains from a Roman cemetery and a vicus (civilian settlement) were discovered. Not far away, an aqueduct was found. Although the fort was near to running water, much more water was needed so a system of aqueducts and dams was built.

Usually, there were probably around 1000 soldiers at the fort. Many of them were not from Rome. We know that there were soldiers at Longovicium from the places we now call Spain and Germany.

Information about Longovicium has come from inscriptions on stones which can now been seen in museums. The inscription on one stone from the fort tells us "the 20th legions built this". A Roman altar and Roman columns now stand in the parish church at Lanchester. The altar dates from around 244AD and is dedicated to a goddess called Garmangabis.

Want to find out more?

Below is more information about Lanchester Roman Fort. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this information.

PDF IconLanchester Roman Fort More information.pdf (1 page, 1341kb)

Find out what the fort actually looked like.

The Friends of Longovicium have also produced an illustrated booklet describing the Fort, its vicus, aqueduct and dam, and an account of its history. In addition, there is a leaflet describing a five-mile walk with references to the Fort and Dere Street. These can be collected free of charge from Lanchester library.

Links to other Archaeology Pages