Arbeia Roman Fort

Arbeia Roman Fort is not what you expect to find while driving through a South Shields housing estate! This fantastic reconstruction brings the Roman presence to life near the terminus of Hadrian’s Wall.

My Experience

I have to say that despite the setting, this was a fantastic visit. To see an authentic Roman Gatehouse and wall, plus the buildings inside, was a real experience and bought it all to life. The buildings are well laid out and designed to educate visitors so there is plenty of information in each area. I visited after a quick trip to Tynemouth Castle and both sites can easily be seen in half a day.

Arbeia Roman Fort Photo Gallery

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History

South Shields is located near the mouth of the River Tyne at its confluence with the North Sea. The area had significance to the Romans for two reasons. Firstly, it formed a key part of Hadrian’s Wall, the frontier system that ran along the Tyne-Solway isthmus. South Shields was located just four miles beyond the eastern terminus of the wall at Wallsend (Segedunum) and prevented anyone by-passing the linear barrier by simply crossing the River Tyne. Secondly, the fort’s proximity to the North Sea meant it was an ideal location for large sea-going vessels to offload supplies for onward movement to the inshore garrisons via smaller river barges. For both these reasons, a fort was established at South Shields circa AD 129 and remained garrisoned even when Hadrian’s Wall was (briefly) decommissioned in favour of the more northerly Antonine Wall.

South Shields Fort was built by the Sixth Legion (Legio VI Victrix) and was configured in the traditional ‘playing card’ shape with a headquarters in the centre, flanked by twin granaries and a Commanding Officer’s house with barracks and workshops in the quadrants. The first garrison was the First Wing of Sabinus’s Pannonians (Ala Primae Pannoniorum Sabiniana), a 500-strong cavalry regiment traditionally recruited from the area that is now Hungary.

Around AD 208, Emperor Septimius Severus arrived on the Tyne in order to pacify the northern tribes. To support his campaigns, South Shields Roman Fort was converted into a supply base to support the large scale operations north of the wall. Many of the barracks of the original fort were demolished and replaced with granaries to hold supplies. The original garrison of South Shields, the First Wing of Sabinus’s Pannonians, were relocated to Halton Chesters (Onnum) at this time and were replaced with the Fifth Cohort of Gauls (Cohors Quintae Gallorum) who had originally been attested to at Cramond Roman Fort. Nevertheless, it is likely the fort’s primary role was to serve as a base for the British arm of the Roman Navy, the Classis Britannica.

The Severus campaigns came to an end in AD 211 following the Emperor’s death. Nevertheless, South Shields Fort remained garrisoned and continued to provide a logistical support for Hadrian’s Wall. The fort was even expanded with the addition of a further seven new granaries between AD 222 and AD 235. It remained occupied by the military throughout the rest of third and fourth centuries with the garrison changing to the Company of Bargemen from the Tigris (Numerus Barcariorum Tigrisiensium) towards the end of the latter. This unit was traditionally recruited from the Middle East and it is possible this is why South Shields acquired its Latin name, Arbeia, which translates as ‘place of the Arabs’.

The Roman military withdrew from Britannia in the early fifth century AD. Thereafter it is possible the site continued to be occupied and it has been mooted as the birth place of St. Oswin, King of Deira, who was killed in AD 651. Ultimately though, without the expertise of the Roman military, the fort fell into a state of decay.

References

The history above is copied from the excellent castlesfortsbattles site.

The fort website with visiting information is here.