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has this to say about the site. "Mamucium, also known as Mancunium, was a fort in the Roman province of Britannia.[1] The remains of the fort are protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and are located within the Castlefield area of the City of Manchester, in North West England (grid reference SJ833977).[2] Founded c. AD 79, Mamucium was garrisoned by a cohort of auxiliary soldiers and guarded the road running from Chester to York. A vicus, or civilian settlement made up of traders and the families of the soldiers, grew outside the fort and was an area of industrial activity.
The site lay in ruins until the Industrial Revolution. During this period Manchester expanded and the fort was levelled to make way for new developments. It was damaged by the construction of the Rochdale Canal and the Great Northern Railway. The site is now part of the regenerated area of warehousing alongside the Rochdale Canal, part of the Castlefield Urban Heritage Park. Reconstructed remains of the fort's gatehouse, granaries, and some buildings from the vicus are on display to the public.
Location
When the Roman fort in Castlefield was built, it was located on a naturally defensible sandstone bluff, guarding a nearby crossing over the River Medlock.[3] The fort was situated near a junction between at least two Roman roads. It guarded the road between the legionary fortresses of Deva Victrix (Chester) and Eboracum (York) running east to west, as well as the road between Manchester and Bremetennacum (Ribchester) to the north.[4] In addition, Mamucium may also have overlooked a lesser road running north west to Coccium (Wigan).[5] The fort was one of a chain of fortifications along the Eboracum to Deva Victrix road, with Castleshaw Roman fort lying 16 miles (26 km) to the east,[6] and Condate (Northwich) 18 miles (29 km) to the west. Stamps on tegulae indicate that Mamucium had administrative links not only with Castleshaw, the nearest fort, but also those at Slack and Ebchester; all the forts probably got the tegulae from the same place in Grimescar Wood near Huddersfield.[7]
The area around the fort changed greatly in the centuries that followed; the remains are now surrounded by mills built during Industrial Revolution and were further damaged by the subsequent urbanisation of Manchester. Castlefield is located on the south west corner of Manchester city centre and the Rochdale Canal cuts through the southern corner of the fort.[5] Deansgate, which has developed into a busy thoroughfare, passes close to the east of the fort and follows the general line of Roman road to Ribchester and Castlefield.
History
Although there is no evidence of prehistoric settlement, there is evidence of activity in the area. A Neolithic scraper, two Mesolithic flints and a flint flake have been discovered, as well as a shard of late Bronze Age pottery; however these were mostly not found in situ. Although the area was in the territory of the Celtic tribe Brigantes until the Romans annexed the area, it may have been under the control of the Setantii, a sub-tribe of the Brigantes.[9] The fort was built around 79 AD;[10] it was built as part of the fortifications erected under Gnaeus Julius Agricola during his campaigns against the Brigantes after the treaty with the Celtic tribe failed.[11] The name Mamucium is thought to derive from the Celtic meaning "breast shaped hill", referring to the sandstone bluff the fort stood on; this later evolved into the name Manchester.[12][13] The Welsh word for Manchester is "Manceinion" which sounds very similar to Mamucium and has been passed on from the Brythonic language.
Excavations have demonstrated that the fort had three main phases of construction; one in 79 AD, the second in 160 AD, and the third in 200 AD. The first phase of the fort was built from turf and timber.[10] Mamucium was designed to be garrisoned by a cohort, about 500 infantry. They would have been drawn from an auxiliary, the non-citizen soldiers of the Roman army.[14] A civilian settlement called a vicus grew around the fort in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries.[15] Around 90 AD, the ramparts surrounding the fort were strengthened.[10] Manchester and the Roman fort at Slack – which neighboured Castleshaw – superseded the fort at Castleshaw in the 120s.[16] Mamucium was demolished some time around 140 AD.[10] Although the vicus grew rapidly in the early 2nd century,[17] it was abandoned some time between 120 and 160 – broadly coinciding with the demolition of the fort – before it was re-inhabited when the fort was rebuilt.[18]
here is a possible temple to Mithras associated with the civilian settlement,[14] in modern day Hulme.[19] An altar dedicated to "Fortune the Preserver" was found, probably dating to the early 3rd century.[14] In 2008 an altar dating from the late 1st century was discovered near the Roman settlement. It was dedicated to two minor Germanic gods and described as being in "fantastic" condition.[20] The County Archaeologist said
"It's the first Roman stone inscription to be found in Manchester for 150 years and records only the second known Roman from Manchester ... The preservation of the stone is remarkable. On top of the stone is a shallow bowl which was used for offerings of wine or blood or perhaps to burn incense."
—Norman Redhead[21]
As well as Pagan worship, there is also evidence of early Christian worship. In the 1970s a 2nd century "word square" was discovered with an anagram of PATER NOSTER.[22] There has been discussion by academics whether the "word square", which is carved on a piece of amphora, is actually a Christian artefact, if so, it is one of the earliest examples of Christianity in Britain.[23]
The second phase was built around 160 AD. Although it was again of turf and timber construction, it was larger than the previous fort, measuring 2 hectares (4.9 acres) to accommodate extra granaries (horrea).[24] Around 200 AD, the gatehouses of the fort were rebuilt in stone and the walls surrounding the fort were given a stone facing.[24] The concentration of furnaces in sheds in part of the vicus associated with the fort has been described as an "industrial estate",[25] which would have been the first in Manchester. Mamucium was included in the Antonine Itinerary, a 3rd century register of roads throughout the Roman Empire.[26] This and inscriptions on and repairs to buildings indicate that Mamucium was still in use in the first half of the 3rd century.[27] The vicus may have been abandoned by the mid 3rd century; this is supported by the excavated remains of some buildings that were demolished and the materials robbed for use elsewhere.[18] Evidence from coins indicates that although the civilian settlement associated with the fort had declined by the mid 3rd century, a small garrison may have remained at Mamucium into the late 3rd century and early 4th century.[18]"
"Mamucium was levelled as Manchester expanded during the Industrial Revolution. The construction of the Rochdale Canal through the south western corner of the fort in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and the building of viaducts for the Great Northern Railway over the site in the late 19th century, damaged the remains and even destroyed some of the southern half of the fort.[5] When the railway viaducts were built, Charles Roeder documented the remains that were uncovered in the process, including parts of the vicus.[5]
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The first archaeological investigation of Mamucium was in 1906. Francis Bruton, who would later work on the Roman fort at Castleshaw, excavated the fort's western defences.[10] A series of small scale excavations were undertaken intermittently between 1912 and 1967, generally exploring the northern defences of the fort.[10][30] In the mid-20th century, historian A. J. P. Taylor called the surviving stretch of Roman wall "the least interesting Roman remains in Britain".[31] The first excavation of the vicus was carried out in the 1970s under Professor Barri Jones.[10] In 1982 the fort, along with the rest of the Castlefield area, became the United Kingdom's first Urban Heritage Park,[32][33] and partial reconstructions of the forts walls, including the ramparts and gateways, were opened in 1984.[14] In 2001–2005 the University of Manchester Archaeological Unit carried out excavations in the vicus to further investigate the site before the area underwent any more regeneration or reconstruction.[3] The archaeological investigation of Mamucium Roman fort and its associated civilian settlement has, so far, provided approximately 10,000 artefacts.
Layout
The fort measured 160 metres (175 yd) by 130 metres (140 yd) and was surrounded by a double ditch and wooden rampart. Around AD 200 the wooden rampart was replaced by stone ramparts,[34] measuring between 2.1 metres (7 ft) and 2.7 metres (9 ft) thick.[19] The vicus associated with Mamucium surrounded the site on the west, north, and east sides, with the majority lying to the north. The vicus covered about 26 hectares (64 acres) and the fort about 2 hectares (4.9 acres).[5] Buildings within the vicus would have generally been one storey, timber framed, and of wattle and daub construction.[34] There may have been a cemetery to the south east of the fort.[19]"