Navio Roman Fort
 Centurial Stone from Navio Roman Fort | |
| Location | Brough-on-Noe |
|---|---|
| Region | Derbyshire, England |
| Coordinates | 53°20′28″N 1°43′48″W / 53.34111°N 1.73000°W |
| Type | Fort (Castra) |
| History | |
| Periods | Roman Empire |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | Buried remains |
| Public access | Footpath |
| Official name | Navio Roman fort and vicus |
| Designated | 30 November 1925 |
| Reference no. | 1017505 |
Navio Roman fort overlooks a tight bend of the River Noe at Brough-on-Noe near Hope, Derbyshire, in England. Navio fort and vicus (civilian settlement) is a Scheduled Monument.[1][2]
Navio is Latin for "on the river". The Roman name of the fort Navio was later changed to the Old English word for fort, brough. Navio fort was originally about 3 acres (1.2 ha) in size and built of timber and earthworks around 80 CE. It was rebuilt in stone in a rectangular form (about 90 by 105 metres (295 by 344 ft)) around 150 CE from when it was occupied for over 200 years. It was subsequently rebuilt and altered and in use until around 350 CE. The site of the fort now consists of earthwork banks and ditches around an earthen platform, buried remains and a few exposed stone slabs. Excavations in 1903 revealed an underground chamber of the Principia or headquarters building.[1]
The fort guarded the Doctors Gate route northwest to the larger fort of Melandra (near Glossop), the Portway road to the south and the Batham Gate road (between the fort at Templeborough and the Roman spa town of Aquae Arnemetiae, modern-day Buxton). This was an important route for access to sites of lead production in the Peak District.[3][4]
The large Centurial stone found at Navio dates from the rebuilding of the fort in 154 CE by occupying soldiers from southwest France. The inscription on it reads "The 1st Cohort of Aquitanians under Julius Verus, the Emperor’s Governor of Britain, under the instructions of Capitonius Fuscus, Prefect of the Cohort, erected this stone in honour of the Emperor Caesar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius, Father of his Country". The Centurial stone and a gritsone altar (dedicated to the goddess Arnemetia or Arnomecta) were found in 1903 in the strong room of the fort's Principia (headquarters building). They are on display in the Buxton Museum.[5]
In 2019 excavations of the vicus (settlement adjoining the fort) uncovered foundations from stone and timber buildings. The team also found many pottery fragments, carved stone pieces, coins and a ‘ballista ball’ (ammunition for a large missile-throwing device).[6]
References
- ^ a b Historic England. "Navio Roman fort and vicus, Hope (1017505)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- ^ "Navio Roman Fort, Brough". Wonders of the Peak. 17 August 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- ^ Corble, Simon. "Navio Roman Fort at Brough, Near Hope and Castleton". Peak District Online. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- ^ Anton Shone and Dean Smart (27 January 2019). "The Street: A re-evaluation of the Roman road from Wirksworth to Buxton" (PDF). Wirksworth Roman Project. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "The Stones of Navio". www.wondersofthepeak.org.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
- ^ "Ancient Roman remains found in Hope Valley". www.buxtonadvertiser.co.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2020.