Drumburgh Roman Fort (Congabata)

Drumburgh Roman Fort Location

Drumburgh Roman Fort Location

Drumburgh Roman Fort is situated on a knoll overlooking a flat expanse to East and West. Given the right tide it is possible to walk across the Solway. A clay mound(probably from the shore) and wood fort was possibly built about 130 AD, measuring 316 ft. by 270ft, just less than 2 acres. The fort is said to be an afterthought. It was aligned slightly differently than the later fort and can be identified by a ditch in the above diagram.  Its Celtic names means dish like, referring to knoll resembling an upturned dish. It is situated in the North West corner of the village 3 miles east of Bowness. The above gives rough guide to its location.

Drumburgh Roman Fort NW corner

Drumburgh Roman Fort NW corner

NW of Drumburgh Fort

NW of Drumburgh Fort

The fort was replaced by a smaller stone fort, probably built in the 160s AD. Its north wall was the Wall itself. There is little information about this fort. Its size indicates that it housed no more than half a cohort of infantry as it was possibly the smallest Wall fort. (Newcastle is the other candidate). The fort was obviously built to guard the crossing. It was occupied late into the 4th century.

It is possible that it had a harbour. There are no visible remains, as stone is not readily available in the area; all the stone has been reused.

Drumburgh Castle

Drumburgh Castle

South of the village is Drumburgh Castle, a fortified manor house built of stone from the fort in 1307, but heavily modified since.