Carlisle Roman Bathhouse Site History

The archaeology of Carlisle’s Roman Bathhouse tells the story of the settlement of Carlisle. Carlisle’s Roman Bathhouse is the largest single building on Hadrian’s Wall. Due to the size and complexity of the building, it is more accurately described as a building with a bathhouse. Finds indicate it was a significant administrative centre, and all evidence points to a visit from the Roman Imperial Court of Septimius Severus in the early 3rd Century.
As well as the Roman finds, volunteers have uncovered objects from every era in the history of Carlisle; from Mesolithic flints left by ancient hunter gatherers, dark-age coins, to musket balls from both sieges of Carlisle, and the odd Victorian bottle and button.
Read on to discover an over view of the historical background to the site, and what is Our Project in more detail…
We have no evidence of prehistoric features (such as rubbish pit) on the site but have found a number of flints dating from the Mesolithic period to the Bronze Age. The Mesolithic is the Middle Stone Age, in the UK this is around 8,800 BC to 4500 BC.
Evidence for prehistoric activity close to our site comes from two Late Bronze Age socketed axe finds, found together at Kings Meadow. Evidence for pre-Roman activity has been found during archaeological investigations in Stanwix, pre-dating Roman deposits and features in the vicinity of the Roman fort and vicus (a civilian settlement) there, and the stone phase of Hadrian’s Wall, but these discoveries are some distance from our site.
Archaeological investigation has also revealed an earthwork predating the vallum, associated with Iron Age pottery, a fibula (a Roman broach) and other items, which also indicates pre-Roman activity occurring in the vicinity. Several flints have been found during previous phases of fieldwork at the Cricket Club site, dating from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age.
Roman activity in Carlisle was initially focused on the Roman fort, Luguvalium, established in 72 AD. By the early 2nd century further forts had been established utilising the Stanegate, a road linking the Tyne and Solway. The Stanegate linked the forts of Stanwix and Carvoran, and passed somewhere in the vicinity of the Cricket Club. Carlisle was granted civitas status in the early third century and witnessed a period of intense rebuilding within the settlement. It is documented in the Historia Augusta that Septimius Severus spent time in Carlisle (at sometime between 208 and 211) during his campaign in Scotland. It is possible that the imperial visit may have resulted in this rebuilding programme and in potentially the granting of civic status itself.
Stanwix fort and associated vicus lie c.400m to the north-east of the Cricket Club site. Evidence for the vicus was found during an archaeological watching brief at Miles McInnes Hall, which revealed substantial occupational evidence in the form of structures and 25 coins.
Hadrian’s Wall, constructed between Wallsend and Bowness-on-Solway was built from AD 122 onwards. The wall was made from turf to the west of the River Irthing, and was eventually replaced with stone in the mid-2nd century. The Cricket Club site lies in the vicinity of the scheduled area referenced as ‘Hadrian’s Wall and vallum in wall mile 66, Stanwix Bank to Stainton’. The site of Milecastle 66 itself is also thought to lie within 250m of the site. The vallum part of the frontier system, comprised a berm, a bank and a ditch, and ran to the south of the wall itself, in some places several metres away. The course of the vallum in the vicinity of the Cricket Club has been postulated, but excavations have revealed it elsewhere, running parallel with Hadrian’s Wall and crossing the Eden by the cricket pavilion. The north mound has been possibly identified as a raised low tree covered ridge, 0.2m high and 11m in length.
A bridge associated with Hadrian’s Wall was thought to have been identified in August 1951 when 80-90 sandstone blocks were dredged from the riverbed, one with a centurial inscription suggesting a Hadrianic date. The former functional channel of the River Eden in Roman times is thought to have been the now obsolete south channel of the 17th 18th century forks of the river.
Before our project began, numerous Roman finds have been recovered from the vicinity, including parts of pillars, a tegula (a part of a Roman tiled roof) close to the Eden Bridge, Roman coins, a Roman medallion representing Antonia, wife of Drusus, found c. 1850, and a pottery at Edenside Cricket Club. One of the pillar finds was a capital and part of a pillar, found in 1812 during excavations in a field belonging to the Earl of Lonsdale on Stanwix Bank.
After the Roman withdrawal, it is likely that Carlisle continued to be occupied. An important monastic community had been established by the 7th century. The town was walled after the arrival of the Normans in 1092. Throughout the Middle Ages and up until the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745,
Carlisle served as a major frontier city. The 14th century Gough map is the earliest to show the medieval road system but does not show a road leading north from Carlisle and crossing the River Eden. This may reflect the political landscape, there being no safe route northward because of regular conflict with Scotland, rather than the actual road system, as itinerates of Edward I indicate the regular movement of troops between Carlisle and Scotland, including on one occasion via Rockcliffe. It seems likely that the road north out of Carlisle via Stanwix Bank would have been the main route used. The crossing of the river would also have been a regular necessity for the functioning of the city at this time, as Carlisle Castle held demesne lands in Stanwix, and the city’s citizens were its tenants.
There is documentary evidence for a bridge at Priestbeck Bridge, and some continued habitation in the vicinity of Stanwix is likely. The name Stanwix is thought to be from the Anglo-Saxon ‘Stanwic’, meaning stone town. At least one 9th century Anglian crosshead has been found in the vicinity of St Michael’s Church. There are some references to the village within the historical record from the late 12th century onwards; in 1187, the sheriff accounted for the donum of Stanwega, and in 1195, the tallage of the King’s demesne was paid for by the men of Steinweges. In 1227, the Calender Close Rolls recorded that the men of the vill of Steinwegges were pardoned for non-payment.
The earliest reference to an ‘Eden Bridge’ is in an early 12th century grant which mentions ‘a mill upon the bridge of Hedene to the Priory of Carlisle’. In 1356, Bishop Welton granted an indulgence of 40 days to those who would contribute towards the repairs of the bridge over the Eden between the city of Carlisle and Stanwix, and in 1359, permission to collect tolls was granted to the men of Carlisle for repairing the bridge.
The union of the crowns, with the accession of James I to the English throne in 1603, initiated a programme of pacification in the borderlands. As part of the pacification of the landscape, and an increased ability to make use of land beyond the defended area of the walls, two detailed surveys were made of the Socage, or manorial lands, of Carlisle. One in 1608, by Thomas Johnson, and another in 1611, by Aaron Rathbone. The fork in the river shown on these was the result of a flood in 1571 which caused the Eden to split around 220m to the east of Stanwix bank, producing a double channel 360m in length.
The overflowing of the Eden and the danger this posed to Eden Bridge was mentioned in a letter in 1571 from the Privy Council to Lord Scope and the Bishop of Carlisle. In 1597, the breach was still open and referred to as the Priest Beck, and there was a submission from the inhabitants of Carlisle that ‘both the wat at the new goytt [Priest Beck] and for amendage of Eaden Bridge ende be spedely mended and that it be nott delayed’. The earliest reference to a second bridge is in 1601 in the Act of 43 Elizabeth, for the re-edifying, repairing and maintaining of two bridges over the Eden. Both bridges were described as constructed of timber and providing the only route between England and Scotland. The Act of 1601 led to the construction of replacement bridges in stone. The two bridges over the two channels of the river are shown on Rathbone’s Plan of the Socage Lands of 1611. The northern of the two channels became the focus for the eventual new engineered channel in 1812-16 when Robert Smirke built a new bridge across the River Eden.

Our Project

The current Carlisle Cricket Club ground lies in what was an area of intense Roman military activity augmented by a substantial civilian presence. Carlisle lay at the junction of two major Roman road routes. The Stanegate, ran eastward towards Corbridge (Corstopium) and the main north-south route crossed the River Eden immediately east of the cricket ground and continued northward into Scotland.

The Roman fort at Carlisle was well placed to guard the junction of these two important road routes and the river crossing. The fort site lies close to, and to the south-west of, the cricket ground, on the southern bank of the River Eden. The Hadrianic frontier system, commencing in AD 122 lies immediately to the north and west of the cricket ground. The system forms part of a World Heritage site with large sections of it protected as Scheduled Monuments. A significant fort on this frontier system was situated in Stanwix (Petriana). The largest fort on Hadrian’s Wall it contained an elite cavalry unit (720-1000 strong) the ala Petriana, the only unit of its type in Roman Britannia. It is believed that a Roman prefect, the commanding officer of the Hadrianic frontier was stationed here. This fort lies 400 metres north-east of the cricket ground. Just past the western edge of the cricket ground are the predicted sites of Milecastle 66 and the location of the river crossing for Hadrian’s Wall.

As a result of a planning application submitted by the cricket club for the construction of new facilities Cumbria County Council’s Historic Environment Service requested that an archaeological evaluation be carried out on the site due to the high potential for sub-surface archaeological features and deposits to be encountered. This initiated what was to become four main phases of excavation over a five-year period from 2017 to 2022. Phases two, three and four involved significant contributions from members of the public. The excavations are continuing to 2024.

The remains of three distinct Roman bath house buildings that all probably faced onto the main north-south road over the river Eden have been uncovered by the excavations. First came a Hadrianic bathhouse of modest size and similar in floor plan to others associated with forts on Hadrian’s Wall.

Hadrianic Phase (approx. 122 to 208AD)

Traces of a block plan Hadrianic bathhouse were recorded in two places, one comprised a short section of its northern wall and flagged floor, and the second was a section of hypocaust sealed beneath the Severan Bathhouse. The vast majority of this building was destroyed by the construction of the monumental Severan Bathhouse and later 4th century robbing activity.

Plan of a typical block plan Hadrianic Bathhouse overlaid onto the site.

Photo of Northern wall of Hadrianic Bathhouse.

The main Hadrianic feature was the substantial road and associated roadside activity. Sealed below a “dark earth” deposit was an extremely well-preserved surface of a Roman road running east-west. It displayed a cambered (agger) surface and measured 5.00m in width and was excavated over a distance of 14.20m. Levels taken indicated that it had a gradient falling toward the west. The visible road surface of sub-rounded river cobbles, when cleaned, revealed small pockets of gravel which once formed a smooth, compacted, upper surface. A silver ring of corded rope design with a socket for a precious or semi-precious stone was found on the road surface. Fourth century pottery sherds retrieved from the road surface suggested it was still being used late into the Roman period.

The Roman road is unlikely to be part of the Flavian Stanegate simply because the fort and town were on the southern side of the river when it was constructed. It may represent part of the Hadrianic Military Way, heading toward Milecastle 66 and the Wall’s river crossing which had possibly developed into a road bridging point. The evidence of butchered food and ovens to the south of the bath house may suggest ‘fast food’ for those attending the baths, and potential forecourts point toward a general occupation of the area. Evidence from excavations to the west of Stanwix fort suggest a vicus in the region very close to the cricket ground.

The Severan Bathhouse (c.208 – 320AD)

The Severan bathhouse was truly colossal in scale. Its northern, eastern and western limits were not reached within the excavated trenches. Only on its south side was the external wall found and a contemporary east-west aligned street uncovered. The building had walls 1.05m thick. The stone used in the bathhouse buildings is similar in character to sandstone outcropping locally along the banks of the River Eden and the River Gelt, where known Roman quarries have been located. Huge pieces of opus signinum and mortared superstructure were found to have fallen through the floors and between the hypocaust pilae stacks. Large quantities of hollow box flue tile, combed on the exterior, were recovered. Their internal surfaces were often blackened with soot. Several T-shaped iron clamps, used to affix the box tiles to the walls, were also recovered. No roof tiles were found and the evidence of ceramic, nozzled tubes and ‘armchair voussoirs’ suggest the presence of a vaulted roof. A key difference between the stacks of square hypocaust tiles recovered from the Hadrianic and Severan bathhouses is that the Severan hypocaust tiles frequently bore stamps. Twenty-nine tiles with an identical ligatured ‘IMP’ stamp, standing for imperator (emperor) have been recovered. The same stamp has been found on roof tiles from other excavation sites in Carlisle. Fragments of a tegula bearing the same stamp were recovered from excavations at Blackfriar’s Street, for example, and a significant number were also recovered from the southern portion of the fort excavated at Annetwell Street. On the latter site there were strong indications that the tiles were produced at the very

beginning of the 3rd century, specifically for the construction of the stone fort and its ancillary buildings. The evidence from the Cricket Club site now demonstrates a larger programme of building.

An example of an Imperial stamped tile below.

The Severan bathhouse overlaid onto the site.

Early Fourth Century (c.320-340AD)

Limited, but incontrovertible, evidence of a 4th century rebuild of the bathhouse was recorded. Unfortunately, not enough of this structure survives to produce a plan. Cutting through the stone wall of the Severan bathhouse were the partial remains of a curved wall measuring 2.50m in length, 0.95m in height and 0.55m in width. This was constructed of red sandstone pieces. Reddened, heat-affected ground suggested the location of a stoke hole nearby. Hypocaust stacks relating to this phase of the bathhouse were found built on top of layers of soot, which had built up during the 3rd century. Adjacent to this, on its western side, was a crude wall, possibly the remains of an arch constructed of broken up but sizeable pieces of reused opus signinum, a type of Roman concrete.

Mid Fourth Century into the 5th

There is evidence that occupation continued on our site with parts of the stone building maintained and areas rebuilt in timber. This was best illustrated with the hypocaust system being infilled with rubble to create a crude floor surface and a number of large post pads had been set up to support substantial timber posts.

The Image below is a 4th century wall cutting across 3rd century wall to the left, and a late 4th/early 5th century floor surface to the right.

12th to 13th century

We have evidence of massive quarry pits that targeted the remains of the bathhouse that may be connected to later construction activity.

One of the medieval robber pits, the Roman stone made a handy quarry.

The Finds

A large volume of Roman ceramic tile and pottery was recovered during the excavations. Significant finds included two inscriptions, one providing an ala Petriana association and the other for a Severan rebuilding of the bathhouse. Also recovered was a lead ala Petriana seal, only the second ever to be found. Again, this signifies an ala Petriana connection. The roadside activity from the second century has produced masses of Roman pottery, including plates, jars, beakers and wine amphorae. Part of a Venus figurine was also recovered from this period. Large quantities of animal bone has also been found as well as quern stones indicating food was being produced and consumed in shops fronting the road. The Severan building remains have produced large quantities of nozzled vaulting tubes, which provide evidence of a rare, 3rd century system in Roman Britain for constructing vaulted roofs.

Example of a v complete vaulting tube recovered from 4th century demolition layer.

A significant number of ceramic tiles displaying an imperial stamp have also been recovered possibly suggests some kind of imperial interest and influence on the Severan bathhouse. Roman window glass and polychrome wall plaster fragments are indicative of a structure exhibiting opulence. Over 450 Roman coins were recovered from the site, predominantly dating to the 3rd and 4th centuries, and often in excellent condition. The drains coming out of the Severan building have produced a group of finds that have generated international interest. These finds have included 36 intaglio, over a 100 beads, 115 hair pins and 12 gaming counters.