Chesters Roman Fort - The Principal Buildings By Jerome Scott At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

In this article we will be continuing our discussion of the Northumbrian Roman fort of Chesters. In the last article we discussed the gate structure, now we are going to look at some of the principal buildings.

The Headquarters - This is the most important building at Chesters, almost twice the size of that at Housteads, and the finest on the line of the Wall. It was the nerve centre of the fort. Here in the various rooms all the business of the regiment was transacted. The entrance was on the north through a monumental gateway (although there are two side entrances as well) into an open courtyard. From here, the visitor could look straight ahead through the Cross Hall to the chapel. The courtyard was paved with a veranda on three sides whose supporting columns can still be seen. In the north west corner is a well and nearby on one of the paving stones is a large phallus. From the courtyard the spacious Cross Hall is entered. The south side is occupied by five rooms. The central one is the sacellum which housed the regimental colours and the statue of the emperor. The chapel gave access to the strongroom which was under one of the rooms of the standard bearers. It was used for the money and valuables of the regiment. The two rooms to the west of the chapel were the offices of the adjutant who looked after the regimental records. The two rooms to the east were used by the standard bearers who were in charge of the company records and the individual savings of the soldiers.

The stables are a complete mystery at Chesters. Since there were at least 500 horses in the fort and since in the winter they would consume large quantities of hay and straw it is difficult to visualize how they could have been accommodated in the eight blocks suggested for stabling. The barracks however can be seen. Cavalry were given more ample accommodation than infantrymen, probably because they kept their harness and equipment where they slept. There were eight barrack blocks. Each housed two turmae and at the ends near the fort walls were the rooms of the unit commanders. The 60 men were probably equally divided among the remaining ten rooms. The barracks had a veranda on which the cooking was done. Some of the pillars which supported the veranda can be seen.

The Commandant's House is very confusing but was obviously an elaborate and luxurious house with the normal Roman central heating and a private bath-house attached. The commander of a cavalry unit was a man of importance in the Roman army.

There were probably two granaries to the west of the headquarters but the area has not been excavated. The fragments of a large building to the south of the Commandant's House probably contained the regimental hospital.

Hopefully this has built on the last article and you have now a better understanding of the principal buildings at Chesters. In the next article we will be looking entirely at the bath house.

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