Introduction
Petuaria (or Peturaria Parisorum> was
originally a Roman fort situated where
the town of Brough-on-Humber now stands.
Petuaria means something like 'quarter'
or 'fourth part', incorporating the
archaic Brthonic *petuar, 'four'
(compare modern Welsh pedwar).
It was founded in 70 AD and
abandoned in about 125. The adjacent
civitas (civil town), ferry-crossing and
(attested) port which grew over and
replaced the fort, which was situated at
The Burrs Playing Field on Welton
Road, survived until about 370, and
was probably the capital of the Celtic
tribe called the Parisii.
Petuaria marked the southern end of
the Roman road known now as Cade's
Road, which ran roughly northwards
for a hundred miles to Pons Aelius
(modern day Newcastle-upon-Tyne).
The section from Petuaria to Eboracum
(york) was also the final section of
Ermine Street, more popularly known
today as the A15 to Lincoln.
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Archeology
Archaeological excavations of the site of
Petuaria were carried out in the 1930s
and between 1958 and 1962, with
occasional examinations of isolated
areas since. The dedication stone of the
Roman theatre was among the most
significant finds and is unusual as the
only recorded epigraphic mention of a
magistrate in Roman Britain. Recording
the gift of a proscenium stage to the
civic settlement at Petuaria by a man
called Marcus Ulpius Jamarius, it has
been dated in the reign of the Emperor
Antonius Pius and around 140 A.D.
His inscription was found re used in
the later stonework defences of Petruaria
and gives a clear illustration of the
standard of civic works and also civil
and literary society which at one time
existed in or around Roman Brough on
Humber, at a tiny town whose modern
magistrates court was only recently
closed in the late 1990s, so ending
nearly two thousand years of locally
recorded justice unprecedented
anywhere else in the British Isles
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Importance
Roman Peuaria seems a genuine
precursor to the strategic importance
now held by the modern port city of
Kingston-upon-Hull, founded in the
Middle Ages, for anyone travelling by
boats of shallow draught, the Humber
is still a gateway into much of England
east of the Pennines. Eight major rivers
can be accessed from the North Sea
through the estuary: the Ouse, Hull,
Derwent, Wharfe, Aire, Don, Trent and
Ancholme. That is why eight river
goddesses who are shown reclining on
the great mosaic from nearby
Brantingham Roman villa are
sometimes interpreted as representing
the practical importance of these
English rivers in Roman times for
transport and travel.
Our statue
Our statue, which was created by the
late sculptor Rodney Wilson of
Brentingham, represents a Roman
warrior, the type of which, may have
stood guard over the fort of Petruaria
around 1800 years ago.
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