Branodunum
Encyclopedia
Branodunum was the name of an ancient Roman
fort in the modern English village of Brancaster
in Norfolk
. Its Roman name derives from the local Celtic language, and means "fort of Bran".
fortification system. It was built to guard the Wash
approaches and is of a typical rectangular castrum layout. According to the 4th-century document Notitia Dignitatum
, the fort was garrisoned by the Equites Dalmatae Brandodunenses ("Dalmatia
n cavalry of Bran[d]odunum"), although evidence exists suggesting that its original garrison was the cohors I Aquitanorum ("first cohort from Aquitania
"). According to the National Trust notice boards, the site of the fort is within a rectangular field to the east of the village; there is no urban development on the site itself. Visit on 18th April 2011 establishes this. Urban development in the 1970s has covered much of the site and destroyed many of the remains.
. A civilian settlement (vicus
) existed on the eastern side of the fort, which has been dated to the 2nd century AD. Its size would make it one of the largest settlements in the territory of the Iceni
tribe. Because the streets of the settlement are not aligned with the layout of the fort, it has been hypothesised that an earlier fort, built of timber, existed at the site, possibly from as early as the revolt of Queen Boudicca in the mid-1st century AD.
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
fort in the modern English village of Brancaster
Brancaster
Brancaster is a village and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. The civil parish of Brancaster comprises Brancaster itself, together with Brancaster Staithe and Burnham Deepdale...
in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
. Its Roman name derives from the local Celtic language, and means "fort of Bran".
History
The fort, built in the 230s, became later part of the Saxon ShoreSaxon Shore
Saxon Shore could refer to one of the following:* Saxon Shore, a military command of the Late Roman Empire, encompassing southern Britain and the coasts of northern France...
fortification system. It was built to guard the Wash
The Wash
The Wash is the square-mouthed bay and estuary on the northwest margin of East Anglia on the east coast of England, where Norfolk meets Lincolnshire. It is among the largest estuaries in the United Kingdom...
approaches and is of a typical rectangular castrum layout. According to the 4th-century document Notitia Dignitatum
Notitia Dignitatum
The Notitia Dignitatum is a unique document of the Roman imperial chanceries. One of the very few surviving documents of Roman government, it details the administrative organisation of the eastern and western empires, listing several thousand offices from the imperial court down to the provincial...
, the fort was garrisoned by the Equites Dalmatae Brandodunenses ("Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
n cavalry of Bran[d]odunum"), although evidence exists suggesting that its original garrison was the cohors I Aquitanorum ("first cohort from Aquitania
Aquitania
Aquitania may refer to:* the territory of the Aquitani, a people living in Roman times in what is now Aquitaine, France* Aquitaine, a region of France roughly between the Pyrenees, the Atlantic ocean and the Garonne, also a former kingdom and duchy...
"). According to the National Trust notice boards, the site of the fort is within a rectangular field to the east of the village; there is no urban development on the site itself. Visit on 18th April 2011 establishes this. Urban development in the 1970s has covered much of the site and destroyed many of the remains.
Location and construction
In Roman times, the fort's northern wall lay directly on the seashore, which served as a harbour. Since then, the shoreline has receded, and the fort now lies inland. The fort was of a rectangular shape with rounded corners, with a 10 ft (2.9 m) wide wall with internal turrets at the corners and backed by an earthen rampart, which increased the wall's strength and gave easy access to the battlements. In front of the wall there was a V-shaped single ditch. The wall thus enclosed an area of 2.56 ha. In typical castrum fashion, the fort had four gates, one on each side. Evidence of the eastern and western gates and of flanking towers survives. Aerial survey has revealed the existence of several buildings in the fort's interior, including the principiaPrincipia
Principia could refer to:*Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Isaac Newton's three-volume work containing explanations of his laws of motion and his law of universal gravitation*Principia , a stem-group coralline alga...
. A civilian settlement (vicus
Vicus (Rome)
In ancient Rome, the vicus was a neighborhood. During the Republican era, the four regiones of the city of Rome were subdivided into vici. In the 1st century BC, Augustus reorganized the city for administrative purposes into 14 regions, comprising 265 vici. Each vicus had its own board of...
) existed on the eastern side of the fort, which has been dated to the 2nd century AD. Its size would make it one of the largest settlements in the territory of the Iceni
Iceni
The Iceni or Eceni were a British tribe who inhabited an area of East Anglia corresponding roughly to the modern-day county of Norfolk between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD...
tribe. Because the streets of the settlement are not aligned with the layout of the fort, it has been hypothesised that an earlier fort, built of timber, existed at the site, possibly from as early as the revolt of Queen Boudicca in the mid-1st century AD.