Camboglanna

This Roman castela lies adjacent to and just south of Hadrian's Wall. The Wall itself forms the north wall of the fort. Camboglanna is laid out rectangularly ‑ 198 yards wide along its east‑west axis and 145 yards running northsouth ‑ covering roughly six acres. Four square stone towers guard each comer, two along the Wall on the north side, and two at the south comers. Each of the four walls are broken by an arched gate flanked by two stone towers. The north gate leads through the Wall to a 15' wide paved road running straight northwest towards Bewcastle; four miles up this road is the old Roman signal tower atop Little Beacon Hill, which is still used to issue warnings between Camboglanna and Bewcastle. The east and west gates exit onto the military road paralleling the Wall. Eastward a bridge across the Irthing leads to Gilsland; to the west it follows the Irthing valley towards Carrock and Carduel The south gate opens onto a steep wooded slope overlooking the winding banks of the River Irthing. Because of the proximity of the river behind the fortification, the Romans did not continue the Vallum behind the wall to this point. Instead the Vallum dead ends near the southwest tower of Camboglanna. East of the Irthing, where the ground levels out, the Vallum picks up again. Camboglanna originally housed one thousand Roman soldiers and protected a sizable settlement nearby. Currently its barracks, stables, bath houses, hospital, headquarters, workshops and granaries are used by significantly fewer occupants and some buildings remain unoccupied. On some of the occupied buildings, old tile roofs have been replaced by thatch. Some structures beyond repair have been tom down, replaced by wood and wattle huts. The stone headquarters building was completely refurbished and now serves as the current lord's main hall. Because of Camboglanna's strategic location, the local lord often hosts many travelers. To accommodate them, some converted Roman barracks serve as guest houses. Sir Quintus is the lord of Camboglanna. As the protector of a major crossroads, he hosts twelve knights and sixty men-of-arms. The rest of his manor numbers two hundred stout farmers, craftsmen, women and children within the fortification grounds plus a small village adjacent to the southeast of the fortification consisting of a hundred more peasantry Quintus is the vassal of Baroness Maud of Gilsland, and has often fought in her service and for her liege, Duke Escan of Cambenet. He is renowned as a gracious host, a fierce warrior, and an excellent jouster. He often wins the tourneys held at Vindolanda and at Carduel. He stands high in the Baroness' regard, and his office protecting the central crossroads of her Barony is vital. The fortifications of Camboglanna are quite intact and well‑maintained. The fields and fosse before the wall are kept clear of brambles and covering trees. The only exception are a few stone walls criss‑crossing the fields before the wall to define pasture lands. The walls and towers of Camboglanna still serve their original purposes quite well. On occasion, hill warriors from Gorre raid south. When an approaching army is sighted at Bewcastle six miles to the north, signals fires relay the warning to Old Beacon Hill, which can be seen from Camboglanna. Given this advanced warning, Sir Quintus can hold Camboglanna from all but the most determined full‑scale assaults, even with his small company of knights, men-of-arms, and yeomanry (25 Knight Values total, or 1 Army Strength Point). Riders are immediately dispatched westward to Carduel and Castle Carrock, and east to the rest of Gilsland. Although Camboglanna's walls are not quite as high or impressive as more modem castles, it has a Defensive Value (DV) of 30 for its outer walls and a DV 5 for the central stone hall. Because of the resolute defense of Camboglanna and other intact fortifications along Hadrian's Wall, the raiders have returned to Gorre empty‑handed on several occasions.

Type

Town