Gloster Hill (Warkworth)
[NU 2528 0424] Roman altar found AD 1856. (1)
In 1856 a fragment of a Roman altar was upturned during ploughing a field known as Wallington Green to the west of the homestead Gloster Hill. It was dedicated to the Sylvan Mothers by the soldiers of the first cohort who must have had their castrum on this place. The stone measures 14ins by 18ins and comprises the capital and part of the stem of an altar. The inscription reads:
M P E S T R I
O H I
and expanded reads:
MATRIBUS CAMPESTRIBUS COHORS PRIMA
The altar was found near or upon a road, of which the remains may be traced in places, from Gloster Hill to Chester House in the township of Acklington. (2)(3)
The field in which this find was made is situated on a gentle northern slope. It is now under plough and no surface finds were made. No trace of the road mentioned in T2 was to be seen. The altar is at present preserved in Alnwick Castle Museum, Cat no 848. (4)
[Within a radius of approx 170m from NU 2528 0424] this locality trenched extensively in an attempt to find Roman site. Entirely negatively results. (5)
Top of an altar to the Matres Campestres, from near Warkworth, in Museum of Antiquities, Newcastle, 1958.17.N. (no 848 in Alnwick Castle catalogue). (6)
Part of an altar, 18in x 17in, found 1856. RIB 1206.
[Ca]mpestri / [bus c]oh(ors) I / [...] 'To the Goddesses of the Parade Ground ... the First Cohort....' (7)
The Roman altar from Gloster Hill has been discussed a number of times. On the basis of the inscription the stone has been dated to the 1st or 2nd century AD. (8)
The inscription is described with reference to the training grounds, at a distance from Roman military fortifications, by Davies. He dates the lettering on the altar to the 3rd century. The findspot of the altar is thought to be genuine, in part based upon the aerial photography of a pair of two small camps immediately adjacent and west of the field in which the altar was discovered and given the capabilities and needs for varied training by the cavalry of the Roman army. (9)
In 1856 a Roman altar was discovered at Gloster Hill, half a mile west of the small village of Amble on the banks of the River Coquet, near its mouth. The inscription reads
[CA]MPESTRI[BVS C]OH(ORS) I[/[...] 'To the Goddesses of the Parade-ground...the First Cohort...'. (10c)
The campertres were always worshipped by cavalrymen, not by infantry, and were associated with the exercise-ground or campus. (10a)
Special training grounds for the cavalry existed...one...at Main in Syria...another in the vicinity of Gloster Hill in Northumberland for the cavalry of a cohors equitata in one of the outposts of the
frontier. In both cases the troops lived away from their base in camps at the training grounds. (10b)
In 1856 a fragment of a Roman altar was upturned during ploughing a field known as Wallington Green to the west of the homestead Gloster Hill. It was dedicated to the Sylvan Mothers by the soldiers of the first cohort who must have had their castrum on this place. The stone measures 14ins by 18ins and comprises the capital and part of the stem of an altar. The inscription reads:
M P E S T R I
O H I
and expanded reads:
MATRIBUS CAMPESTRIBUS COHORS PRIMA
The altar was found near or upon a road, of which the remains may be traced in places, from Gloster Hill to Chester House in the township of Acklington. (2)(3)
The field in which this find was made is situated on a gentle northern slope. It is now under plough and no surface finds were made. No trace of the road mentioned in T2 was to be seen. The altar is at present preserved in Alnwick Castle Museum, Cat no 848. (4)
[Within a radius of approx 170m from NU 2528 0424] this locality trenched extensively in an attempt to find Roman site. Entirely negatively results. (5)
Top of an altar to the Matres Campestres, from near Warkworth, in Museum of Antiquities, Newcastle, 1958.17.N. (no 848 in Alnwick Castle catalogue). (6)
Part of an altar, 18in x 17in, found 1856. RIB 1206.
[Ca]mpestri / [bus c]oh(ors) I / [...] 'To the Goddesses of the Parade Ground ... the First Cohort....' (7)
The Roman altar from Gloster Hill has been discussed a number of times. On the basis of the inscription the stone has been dated to the 1st or 2nd century AD. (8)
The inscription is described with reference to the training grounds, at a distance from Roman military fortifications, by Davies. He dates the lettering on the altar to the 3rd century. The findspot of the altar is thought to be genuine, in part based upon the aerial photography of a pair of two small camps immediately adjacent and west of the field in which the altar was discovered and given the capabilities and needs for varied training by the cavalry of the Roman army. (9)
In 1856 a Roman altar was discovered at Gloster Hill, half a mile west of the small village of Amble on the banks of the River Coquet, near its mouth. The inscription reads
[CA]MPESTRI[BVS C]OH(ORS) I[/[...] 'To the Goddesses of the Parade-ground...the First Cohort...'. (10c)
The campertres were always worshipped by cavalrymen, not by infantry, and were associated with the exercise-ground or campus. (10a)
Special training grounds for the cavalry existed...one...at Main in Syria...another in the vicinity of Gloster Hill in Northumberland for the cavalry of a cohors equitata in one of the outposts of the
frontier. In both cases the troops lived away from their base in camps at the training grounds. (10b)
N5599
FIELD OBSERVATION, Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigation 1954; E Geary
DESK BASED ASSESSMENT, Gloster Hill, Amble 2015; Archaeological Services Durham University
DESK BASED ASSESSMENT, Gloster Hill, Amble 2015; Archaeological Services Durham University
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