Hadrian's Wall - Fort - Wallsend (Segedunum)

Hadrian's Wall Fort, Minor Settlement and Temple Or Shrine

The wall originally started from Pons Aelius (Newcastle upon Tyne), and had reached westward as far as Cilurnum (Chesters) before it was decided to build an extension of the wall from the original terminus at the Tyne bridge a further 3½ miles eastwards to a new fort at Wallsend. Although there were four milecastles along the stretch of wall between Wallsend and Newcastle, nothing now remains to be seen, and the wall itself lies buried mostly beneath the modern A187 road. It would appear that this extension of the Wall was not backed by an equivalent continuation of the vallum.

The Notitia Dignitatum lists the name of the fort in the early fifth century as Segeduno, which could be Welsh/Gaelic in origin, derived from the words sego (‘strength’) and dunum (‘fortified place’), the name Segedunum being translated as ‘the Strong Fort’. The earliest appearance of the modern name occurs c.1085AD, when it was recorded Wallesende.

The Hadrianic Fortifications

The Segedunum fort is aligned to the north-north-west and measures some 453 by 394 feet (138 x 120 metres), having a typical ‘playing-card’ outline which one always associates with Roman encampments, this one covering an area of 4 acres (1.65 ha). The fort, like all others on the eastern half of the Wall had its defences, gateways and corner-towers built of stone from the outset. The fort was built to house a cohors equitata, a mixed unit of 480 infantry soldiers and 120 cavalry troopers; the northern part of the fort, the praetentura, extended forward of the Wall and was occupied by six infantry centuriae, while the southern part of the encampment, the retentura, was occupied by four cavalry barracks.

Of the interior buildings during the Hadrianic period, only those in the latera praetorii or central range were built of stone; they were, the principia or regimental headquarters building in the centre of the fort, flanked on the east by the praetorium or commanding officer’s house, and on the west by a double-granary or horraea. The six infantry and four cavalry barracks, together with a large structure in the south-eastern corner of the central range, were all originally built of timber. The area to the immediate north of the via principalis, the main east-west road through the middle of the fort, was taken by two long, narrow structures which ran the entire length of the road, and are presumed to be store-houses and/or workshops.

Alterations During the Severan Period

RIB 1308 - Building inscription of the Second Legion Augusta

The Second Legion Augusta (built this).

LEG II AVG

As Bruce gives this to Wallsend fort, it is here assumed to belong to it, though by its style it resembles stones from the Wall R.G.C.

The Garrison Units

RIB 1303 - Dedication to Mercury

To the god Mercury the Second Cohort of Nervians from the district of … dedicated and set up this statuette.

DEO M S[... ] D ET P COH
II NER[...]M PAGO
[...]DIORVM

The pagus is unidentified, cf. RIB 2107, 2108. For sigillum see RIB 2102, 2148.

The unit which comprised the original garrison at Wallsend is unknown, but by the end of the second century the fort was inhabited by Cohors II Nerviorum Civium Romanorum, raised from the allied states in Gallia Belgica (modern Belgium), and originally sent to Britain with Petillius Cerialis in 71AD, along with five other Belgian cohorts. A sculpted slab bearing a dedicatory inscription from the unit was found to the west of the fort.

RIB 1299 - Altar dedicated to Jupiter Optimus Maximus

To Jupiter, Best and Greatest, the Fourth Cohort of Lingonians, part-mounted, under the command of Julius Honoratus, centurion of the Second Legion Augusta, willingly and deservedly fulfilled its vow.

I O M
COH IIII LIN
GONVM EQ
CVI ATTENDIT
IVL HONOR
ATVS 𐆛 LEG II
AVG V S L M

No commentary.

Tribunus Cohortis Quartae Lingonum Segeduno
“The tribune of the Fourth Cohort of Lingones at Segedunum
(Notitia Dignitatum xl.33; 4th/5th C.)

RIB 1301 - Altar dedicated to Jupiter Optimus Maximus

To Jupiter, Best and Greatest, Cornelius Celer, prefect of the Fourth Cohort of Lingonians, [set this up].

[...] M
[...]NEL
CELER PR
AEF COH
IIII L[...]
[...]

No commentary.

RIB 1305 - Dedication to an unknown god

To … Gaius Julius Maximinus, centurion of the Sixth Legion Victrix, in accordance with his vow, set up this statue with its base and this temple.

[...]
TYPVM CVM BAS[...]
ET TEMPLVM
FECIT G IV[...]
MAXIMINVS [.]
LEG VI VI[...]
EX VOTO

It probably came from Wallsend fort. (See Haverfield, Arch. Ael. 2nd Ser. 16 (1894) 78.)

RIB 1300 - Altar dedicated to Jupiter Optimus Maximus

To Jupiter, Best and Greatest, Aelius Rufus, prefect of the Fourth Cohort of Lingonians (set this up).

I O M
AEL RVFVS
PRAEF COH
IIII LINGO
NVM

It probably came from Wallsend fort. (See Haverfield, Arch. Ael. 2nd Ser. 16 (1894) 78.)

…TYPVM CVM BASI ET TEMPLVM FECIT G IVL MAXIMINVS > LEG VI VIC EX VOTO
“…typum with colonnaded-hall and a sanctuary, Gaius Julius Maximinus centurion of the Sixth Victorious Legion has made in accordance with a vow.”
(RIB 1305; altar base)
… … DIDIVS SEVERVS PRAEF VSLM
“… … the Prefect Didius Severus, willingly and deservedly fulfilled his vow.”
(RIB 1301; altarstone)

The Wall’s Eastern Terminus

The Wall from Newcastle abuts onto the south-western side of the fort, at its porta principalis sinistra, where the gate itself opened out onto the north side of the Wall. The Wall was also continued from the south-eastern corner tower of the fort a further ¼ mile to the River Tyne where it was extended into the stream down to the low-tide level. It is thought that a monumental statue of the emperor Hadrian himself once adorned the very end of the Wall at Segedunum, perhaps placed so as to face ships arriving at the busy port which nestled within the protective walls of his great fortification, and impressing upon their passengers who it was that built it.

The Civilian Settlement

A minor civilian settlement is evidenced in the angle between the Wall and the fort, which continued for a short stretch westwards alongside the river, a Roman quay has also been confirmed in the immediate area between the wall extension and the south-east defences of the fort. Evidence of a Roman bath-house, in the form of flue-tiles and fragments of pilae, have been found in the area of the ‘Ship in the Hole’ public house outside the south-western defences of the fort.

Segedunum Today

Segedunum Roman Fort, Baths and Museum
The Segedunum museum and visitor centre at Wallsend opened in June 2000 and is an absolute ‘must-see’ for anyone visiting in the north-east of England. The site is only two hundred yards south of the Wallsend Metro Station, and is dominated by a 34 metre high viewing tower which overlooks the fort from the east, from which there are superb views of the whole of the Roman camp. The remains of the interior buildings have been delineated and augmented by modern paving and coloured gravel, revealing the plan of the fort as it was in the Severan period. The site also includes the only reconstructed Roman bath-house in Britain, which is based on the plan of the Roman baths at Chesters, adapted to fit within the confines of the Wallsend heritage site. The viewing gallery in the tower includes a superb computer-generated animation of the entire lifetime of Segedunum, from 1AD to 2000AD. There is a reconstructed section of Hadrian’s Wall about one hundred yards west of the fort on the opposite side of Buddle Street from the museum entrance. The reconstruction overlooks a short stretch of the Wall itself, which was being excavated and examined by archaeologists when we visited in August 2000. For those wanting more information on the history of the site there is a well-presented, 60 page guide-book available from the site-shop, and also a dedicated website (see below).
The aspect across the praetorium to the viewing tower opened in June 2000.

Historical Note

When the Swan Hunter shipyard was being built at Wallsend, several yards of the foundation of the wall were unearthed, and some of it subsequently travelled several times around the world in a glass display case aboard the ocean liner Carpathia, which was among the first vessels launched from here.

References for Segedvnvm

Hadrian’s Wall Map and Guide by the Ordnance Survey (Southampton, 1989); Hadrian’s Wall in the Days of the Romans by Ronald Embleton and Frank Graham (Newcastle, 1984) p.45; The Roman Inscriptions of Britain by R.G. Collingwood and R.P. Wright (Oxford 1965). Hadrian’s Wall Map and Guide by the Ordnance Survey (Southampton, 1989); Hadrian’s Wall in the Days of the Romans by Ronald Embleton and Frank Graham (Newcastle, 1984) p.45; The Roman Inscriptions of Britain by R.G. Collingwood and R.P. Wright (Oxford 1965). Hadrian’s Wall Map and Guide by the Ordnance Survey (Southampton, 1989); Hadrian’s Wall in the Days of the Romans by Ronald Embleton and Frank Graham (Newcastle, 1984) p.45; The Roman Inscriptions of Britain by R.G. Collingwood and R.P. Wright (Oxford 1965). Hadrian’s Wall Map and Guide by the Ordnance Survey (Southampton, 1989); Hadrian’s Wall in the Days of the Romans by Ronald Embleton and Frank Graham (Newcastle, 1984) p.45; The Roman Inscriptions of Britain by R.G. Collingwood and R.P. Wright (Oxford 1965).

Map References for Segedvnvm

NGRef: NZ300660 OSMap: Hadrian’s Wall, LR88.

Roman Roads near Segedvnvm

Wall: W (3) to Pons Aelivs (Newcastle, Tyne & Wear) River Tyne (upstream): ENE (5) to Sovth Shields (South Shields, Tyne & Wear)

Sites near Hadrian's Wall - Fort - Wallsend (Segedunum)