Abstract
EXCAVATION of the fort on the Roman Wall at Halton Chesters, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, by the University of Durham Excavation Committee, has made it possible to state definitely for the first time that the building of the wall was completed within a period of five years. A dedicatory tablet on the west gate of the fort has been found, it is stated in a report of the Committee (The Times, July 13), which bears the name of Platorius Nepos, the Governor of Britain in A.D. 122-126. As he also directed the first stages of building, the whole erection was completed within his term of office. The excavation has thrown much light not only on the methods of planning and construction of the fort but also on that of the wall itself. It is evident that the original plan was not always followed. For example, the original ditch fronting the wall runs straight through below the existing fort, one of six, which projects 200 ft. north of the wall. The east and west gates of the fort are carried down the entire depth of the filled-in ditch and are built on massive foundations. There is evidence of two considerable reconstructions or enlargements. After the Caledonian invasion, the Emperor Severus rebuilt the fort in about the year A.D. 205, erecting a monumental fore-hall in front of the administrative building. No hall so fine as this, it is stated, has as yet been discovered in Britain, where, in any event, they are rare. It is shown by the foundations to have been 160 ft. long by 30 ft. broad, with a central entrance spanning the north-to-south street. About a century later the fort was increased in size by an enlargement towards the west behind the shelter of the wall. This structure gave the fort the peculiar L-shaped plan which has long been a puzzle to archaeologists.
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Hadrian's Wall. Nature 138, 108 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/138108b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/138108b0