Forts Along the Roman Wall - Chesters and Its Gates By Jerome Scott At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

This article describers the gates of the Roman fort of Chesters in Northumberland, England. The name Chesters is found frequently in Northumberland applying to fortified sites especially those of Roman origin. Symeon in 1104 calls the place Scytlecester juxta murum. The Roman site here is of great importance.

Chesters was garrisoned by a cavalry regiment ala 11 asturum, the second Asturian Horse - 500 strong. Benwell, a similar fort, was occupied by the First ala. It is the customary rectangle with rounded corners and six gates. The wall is five feet thick backed by an earthen mound and fronted by a ditch. At Chesters, the northern rampart does not coincide with the wall as at Housteds. It lies across it just as at Benwell and Rutchester.

The main gateways at Chesters were all of the same type. The double gate had towers on either side with guard chambers. The spina separating the two portals is built of massive masonry. The rest is in stone similar to the wall itself. The doors would be of oak reinforced with iron. The doorways of the guard rooms opened into the gate-passage.

Visitors would enter by the North Gate. It was a double portal gateway but its west portal was blocked very early since its threshold is almost unworn. It's east portal however is of great interest since the stone channel of an aqueduct enters here, fed by one of the springs to the north of the fort.

The Main West Gate also had twin portals and guard chambers. However, both sills are unworn suggesting the gate was walled up at an early date. The northern guard chamber has a large stone storage tank fed by an aqueduct.

About fifty yards to the south is a single portal gateway with little to be seen. Traveling around the fort we meet traces of the angle tower and half-way between the angle and the south gate is a fine interval tower. The doorway at the back led to the street called the intervallum. There were eight interval and four angle towers at Chesters. They were all probably raised ten feet above the rampart walk like gate towers.

The South Gate has the usual twin portals and towers. The western portal was blocked when still new. The eastern portal was restored on more than one occasion, after the fort had been overrun, so the level of the portal is much higher. In the east guard chamber of this gate a remarkable bronze tablet of 146 AD was found. It is a diploma given to an auxiliary soldier when he had served for twenty five years and received an honourable discharge. It legalised his marriage past past or future.

The Main East is in a fine state of preservation with walls standing twelve courses high. It was never used by wheeled traffic and was walled up about 300 AD. Each portal had an arch at the back and front and the south near pier still has the slots on top of the upper which held the shuttering for the arch.

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