The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca

• 144 • W.S.Hanson
Figure 8.5 Site plans: forts: a. Elginhaugh; b. Housesteads; c. Vindolanda; d. Richborough.
right up to its walls (Crow 1995). The stone walls of the fort, with associated gates and towers, as
well as the headquarters building, commanding officer’s house, granaries, hospital, latrine and
some barrack blocks within it, have been consolidated and put on public display (see Figure
8.5b), along with some of the buildings of the civil settlement (‘vicus’) outside the south gate.
Vindolanda (Chesterholm), Northumberland
The Roman fort at Vindolanda, situated only some 3 km south of Housesteads, has a complex
history. It was founded in the Late Flavian period (later first century AD), presumably as part of
the military consolidation in northern England, but some years after its initial conquest. In the
second century AD, the fort continued in use as one of the garrison posts along the Trajanic
Stanegate frontier, and, like Corbridge, occupation appears to have continued even with the
construction of Hadrian’s Wall and the moving of garrisons up to its line. The original timberbuilt
fort was replaced in stone on a slightly different alignment probably in the later second
century, and continued to be occupied through until the late fourth or early fifth (Figure 8.5c).
The rampart walls and headquarters building of this stone fort have also been consolidated for
public display, along with the external bath house and buildings of a civil settlement. The major
importance of this site, however, derives from the excavation of the deeply buried earlier timber
fort: its waterlogged state has preserved an exciting range of environmental evidence and organic
artefacts, including writing tablets. These include elements of the fort’s administrative archive
and copies of private letters (Bowman 1994).