Segedunum: Excavations By Charles Daniels In The Roman Fort At Wallsend (1975-1984)

Between 1975 and 1984 almost the entire area of the Roman fort of Segedunum in Wallsend was excavated under the direction of Charles Daniels, senior lecturer in the Department of Archaeology at Newcastle University. It is these excavations which form the subject of this publication. This comprehensive report on the structural remains (Vol. 1) and finds (Vol. 2) show clearly that Daniels’ work represented one of the most ambitious and prolonged programs of fieldwork attempted on the northern frontier up to that point and has made Wallsend one of the most fully investigated of Roman forts in Britain.
In most areas the remains were not excavated down to natural and so the remains revealed were predominantly those of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, with some late Roman features. Volume 1 describes first the stratigraphic sequences and excavation of the stone and timber buildings of the fort’s central range: the granary, hospital, headquarters (principia), commanding officer’s house (praetorium), the forehall fronting the principia and granary, and a long narrow building, perhaps a workshop, on the north side of the eastern via principalis. In the case of all but the praetorium these buildings were fully exposed. Later chapters cover the buildings in the northern third of the fort, revealed to be a group of six infantry barracks which underwent several phases of rebuilding and refurbishment including partial replacement by a stable block. Parts 4 and 5 examine the cavalry barracks in the southern part of the fort (retentura) and excavations of sections of the fort defenses on all four sides, particularly of discrete structures such as towers and gates.
Volume 2, on the predominantly 2nd–3rd century material culture from the site, looks at the stonework, pottery, coins and small finds recovered. The stonework and ceramic building material provides information on the appearance of the fort and include a very rare stone latrine seat and a bench support. The pottery comprises samian, mortaria, including a large collection stamped by Anaus, amphorae and coarse wares. Other classes of artifact occur in comparatively small numbers, including colorless glass tablewares of the second and third centuries, 295 coins and c. 1000 small finds including some post-Roman pieces. Finally there is a detailed assessment of animal bone assemblages from a cistern and the Commanding Officer’s house.

Table of Contents

Volume 1
Part 1 introduction and discussion
1. Introduction
2. The history and development of the fort
3. Pre-Roman cultivation

Part 2 the buildings of the central range
4. The granary (Building 7)
5. Tthe hospital (Buildings XXI and 8)
6. The timber buildings around the granary
7. Cistern 1, the assembly area and associated roads
8. The Principia (Building 14)
9. The Praetorium (Building 13)
10. The Forehall (Building AO), central roads and Building 15
11. Workshop Building 16 and the eastern Via Principalis

Part 3 the buildings in the northern part of the fort
12. The evidence for timber barracks in the Praetentura
13. The second-century stone barracks in the Praetentura
14. The third-century buildings in the Praetentura

Part 4 the buildings in the southern part of the fort

15. The earlier cavalry barracks in the Retentura
16. The chalet-barracks in the Retentura

Part 5 the defences
17. The western defences and Hadrian’s Wall
18. The northern defences
19. The south and east defences
20. The defence – an overview

Volume 2
Part 6 The finds

21. Building material, by A. T. Croom
Architectural fragments and other objects of stone
Ceramic building material
Other building material

22. The pottery
The samian ware, by B. Dickinson
Introduction, by A. T. Croom
The mortaria, by A. T. Croom
The mortaria stamps, by K. F. Hartley
The amphora, by A. T. Croom
The amphorae stamps , by R. Mcbride
The coarse wares, by A. T. Croom and P. T. Bidwell

23. The vessel glass and graffiti
The vessel glass, by D. Allen
Lead sealings and graffiti, by R. S. O. To