Birdoswald Roman Fort

Gilsland, Hadrian's Wall Path, Brampton CA8 7DD

Banna, now known as Birdoswald Roman Fort, was a fort, towards the western end of Hadrian's Wall, in the Roman province of Britannia. 

Today the site is occupied by a former farm called Birdoswald. As of 2005, it is the only site on Hadrian's Wall at which significant occupation in the post-Roman period has been proven, and it is subject to a long-term archaeological programme under the directorship of Tony Wilmott.

It is one of the best preserved of the 16 forts along Hadrian's Wall. The fort is situated in a commanding position on a triangular spur of land bounded by cliffs to the south and east overlooking a broad meander of the River Irthing in Cumbria. In Roman times, the fort was known as Banna ("horn" in Celtic), reflecting the geography of the site.

The fort was occupied by Roman auxiliaries from approximately AD 112 to AD 400. In this western part of Hadrian's Wall, the wall itself was originally built from turf, later replaced with stone (Hogan, 2007). The stone fort was built some time after the wall, in the usual playing card shape, with gates to the east, west and south. Inside were built the usual stone buildings, a central headquarters building (principia), granaries and barracks. 

Unusually for an auxiliary fort, it also included an exercise building perhaps reflecting the difficulties of training soldiers in the exposed site in the north of England.

The two mile sector of Hadrian's Wall either side of Birdoswald is also of major interest. It is currently the only known sector of Hadrian's Wall in which the original turf wall was later replaced by a stone wall on a different line. When the rebuilding took place (probably in the 130s) the line of the wall was moved approximately 50 metres further north, to line up with the fort's north wall, rather than its east and west gates. 

The reasons for this change are unclear, although David Woolliscroft (Woolliscroft, 2001) has plausibly suggested that it was the result of changing signalling requirements. At any rate, this remains the only area in which both the walls can be directly compared.

Approximately 600 metres east of Birdoswald, at the foot of an escarpment, lies the remains of Willowford bridge. This carried Hadrian's Wall across the River Irthing. The westward movement of the river course over the centuries has left the east abutment of the bridge high and dry, while the west abutment has probably been destroyed by erosion. Nevertheless, the much-modified visible remains are highly impressive. Until 1996, these remains were not directly accessible from the fort, but they can now be reached by a footbridge.

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