How Corbridge could have been capital of the North East
An archaeological investigation has uncovered the theory that a Northumberland village missed out on power and prestige. Tony Henderson explains
If history had panned out differently, what is now a quiet Northumberland village could have been the regional capital instead of Newcastle.
The tantalising suggestion comes from a new book which describes recent excavations at Corbridge as part of a five-year project which explored seven sites along the corridor of Hadrian’s Wall.
The WallCAP programme, backed by the National Heritage Lottery Fund and Newcastle University, investigated what is now a playing field, but was once part of the outer areas of Corbridge Roman Town, or Coria.
Rob Collins, Professor of Frontier Archaeology at Newcastle University and community archaeologist Dr Jane Harrison have written Excavations Along Hadrian’s Wall 2019-21, which has been short listed in the Book of the Year category of the Current Archaeology awards.
There is evidence of the wealth and prestige of Roman Corbridge, which was the biggest settlement in what is now the North East and the most northernly Roman town in Europe.
What is on display at English Heritage’s Corbridge site is the urban core of the settlement, with the full extent of the town and its cemeteries buried under surrounding fields.
The WallCAP dig focused on Corchester playing field, which was attached to the 1891 Corchester Towers Boys School but was once part of the northern fringe of the Roman town.
Corbridge began in the early 80s AD as a series of four forts, and developed into an extensive town with military depots and as a supply base for Hadrian’s Wall, with temples, shops, workshops and homes.
What is on show now for visitors includes huge granaries, a massive building and a water system which ran into a fountain.
Corbridge was also strategically sited at the junction of two major Roman Roads – the north-south Dere Street and the east-west Stanegate, so plenty of passing traffic.
But what was once the dominant location in the region lost that status when the Normans happened to build their castle on top of the Roman fort in what is now Newcastle.
This shifted the power base downriver from Corbridge to Newcastle.
“Roman Corbridge was a really sizeable place but now is a peaceful village in a quiet corner of Northumberland,” says Jane Harrison.
“We were excavating what was a busy town on a site which is now a playing field and you say ‘what if…’ It shows how dramatically places can change.”
The wealth of Corbridge is shown in the town’s Shorden Brae, a big stone tower tomb in its own walled enclosure and the Corbridge lanx, a large silver platter which was part of a silver hoard.
The playing field excavations revealed a yard with a smithy at the likely junction of a branch road and Dere Street and a substantial house in what was an area seemingly used for manufacturing and handy for travellers as they entered or left Coria.
There was also a strip building with finds suggesting a tavern, eatery or some other roadside venue.
One of the aims of WallCAP was to involve local communities and the public in archaeology and Hadrian’s Wall, and up to 400 volunteers took part.
Another was to improve understanding of the current and historic risks to Hadrian’s Wall. An assessment in 2016 reported that 20 sites could be considered at risk.
Fieldwork included examining the seven sites detailed in the book and also the afterlife of the Wall once Roman occupation ended.
A strand was tracing the widespread use of convenient Roman stone in subsequent centuries in all manner of construction from farmhouses to the 14th century Thirlwall Castle near the Wall.
Among the sites investigated was what is left of the vallum - a ditch flanked by earth mounds behind the Wall – in fields between Throckley in Newcastle and Heddon on-the-Wall.
At Cam Beck near Brampton digging showed how the Romans carried the Wall over a minor river in a gorge – works which included building a tower.
Walltown Crags in Northumberland was also visited, where a focus of attention was where the Roman builders cleared soil or turf to expose the bedrock and erected the Wall directly on this base.
The hardback Excavations Along Hadrian’s Wall, published by Oxbow Books, is currently on offer at £40 on the Pen and Sword website until the end of March.
A paperback summary version, Community Archaeology on Hadrian’s Wall, is also available at £12.95 from Pen and Sword Books.