Edges of Empire: Rome's Northernmost Town

The Ancients

History Hit

History

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 31 January 2021

⏱️ 23 minutes

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Summary

Roughly two miles south of Hadrian’s Wall lie the remains of Roman Corbridge, the northernmost town of the Roman Empire. The site’s archaeology is unique. The remains highlight what was once a bustling town. As its centre was the high street. Covered walkways, street side shops and an ornate fountain are just a few of the structures that we know were present along this central road, now known as the Stanegate. Metres away, however, you have the remains of very different structures surviving. Military buildings, ‘mini forts’ that were slotted into Corbridge’s bustling town landscape, when the legionaries returned here in the 2nd century. Though not on Hadrian’s Wall itself, this ancient cosmopolitan town had strong economic connections with those manning this frontier. It is a must see site for anyone planning to visit Hadrian’s Wall.

A few months back, I was fortunate enough to visit Corbridge and be shown around the site by English Heritage curator Dr Frances McIntosh.

The full tour / documentary can be viewed on History Hit TV. Hadrian’s Wall: Settlement and Supply: https://access.historyhit.com/videos/settlement-and-supply

The site of Corbridge Roman Town is owned by English Heritage https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/corbridge-roman-town-hadrians-wall/

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It's the ancients on History Hit, I'm Tristan Hughes your host and in today's podcast
0:08.3	we are talking about the northernmost town in Roman Britain.
0:13.3	Corbridge.
0:14.3	Now a few months back I was fortunate enough to head up Hadrian's Wall to do some filming
0:18.7	for History Hit TV and one of the places that we visited that we had to visit was Roman
0:24.7	Corbridge.
0:25.7	I was lucky enough to get shown around the site, have a tour with Dr Francis McIntosh
0:30.4	she is an English heritage curator based on the wall and she was absolutely fantastic.
0:36.4	Here's the podcast.
0:42.4	Hi!
0:43.4	Hi Francis, thank you so much for joining me today.
0:45.4	Welcome to Corbridge or Coria as it was known in the Roman times.
0:48.4	Well I must admit one of the most extraordinary things first of all was just how big the site
0:52.3	is.
0:53.3	Yes we stood right on the edge and you can see in front of us the remains however this
0:57.2	is only a small part.
0:59.1	So Corbridge, Roman Corbridge would have been around 50 acres we think would have covered
1:04.0	all the fields surrounding us and actually this is a really good point to talk about how
1:08.3	it's connected to the rest of Roman Britain.
1:10.2	So over that hill there, Deer Street, the Roman road that ran north from York, Up to Hadrian's
1:14.6	Wall and Path to Hadrian's Wall came down that hill, crossed over the river that's just
1:18.7	out of view, came up this field and then dogled and came into the site and joined what we call
	...

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