| Branodunum | |
Site of Branodonum Roman Fort |
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Branodunum
Branodunum shown within Norfolk |
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| OS grid reference | TF7844 |
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| List of places: UK • England • Norfolk | |
Branodunum was the name of an ancient Roman fort in the modern English village of Brancaster in Norfolk. Its Roman name derives from the local Celtic language, and means "fort of Bran".
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The fort, built in the 230s, became later part of the Saxon Shore fortification system. It was built to guard the Wash approaches and is of a typical rectangular castrum layout.[1] According to the 4th-century document Notitia Dignitatum, the fort was garrisoned by the Equites Dalmatae Brandodunenses ("Dalmatian cavalry of Bran[d]odunum"),[2] although evidence exists suggesting that its original garrison was the cohors I Aquitanorum ("first cohort from Aquitania").[3] According to the National Trust notice boards, the site of the fort is within a rectangular field to the east of the village; there is no urban development on the site itself. Visit on 18th April 2011 establishes this. Urban development in the 1970s has covered much of the site and destroyed many of the remains.
In Roman times, the fort's northern wall lay directly on the seashore, which served as a harbour. Since then, the shoreline has receded, and the fort now lies inland. The fort was of a rectangular shape with rounded corners, with a 10 ft (2.9 m) wide wall with internal turrets at the corners and backed by an earthen rampart, which increased the wall's strength and gave easy access to the battlements. In front of the wall there was a V-shaped single ditch.[4] The wall thus enclosed an area of 2.56 ha.[5] In typical castrum fashion, the fort had four gates, one on each side. Evidence of the eastern and western gates and of flanking towers survives. Aerial survey has revealed the existence of several buildings in the fort's interior, including the principia.[5] A civilian settlement (vicus) existed on the eastern side of the fort, which has been dated to the 2nd century AD. Its size would make it one of the largest settlements in the territory of the Iceni tribe.[6] Because the streets of the settlement are not aligned with the layout of the fort, it has been hypothesised that an earlier fort, built of timber, existed at the site, possibly from as early as the revolt of Queen Boudicca in the mid-1st century AD.[6]
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