Castrum Branodunum

Branodunum is the remains of a Roman fort beside the modern village of Brancaster in Norfolk. It stands on a flat stretch of land between the village and the A149 road, now separated from the sea by salt marshes. The fort was built in the 230s as part of the Saxon Shore system to guard the Wash approaches. Its original garrison was the First Cohort from Aquitania, later replaced by Dalmatian cavalry. A civilian settlement grew up outside the eastern and northern walls in the 2nd century. Aerial surveys and geophysical work have revealed barrack rooms and major buildings within the fort. The fort follows a typical castrum plan: a rectangle with rounded corners, enclosing 2.56 hectares. The walls were 3 metres wide with internal turrets and backed by an earthen rampart. A single V-shaped ditch ran in front of the wall, and there were four gates, one on each side. Evidence survives of the eastern and western gates and their flanking towers. The principia, the headquarters building, has been identified inside the enclosure. The civilian vicus stretched east and north of the fort and may have been one of the largest Iceni settlements. Visitors today see a grassy field outlined by low earthworks where the walls once stood. The site is quiet, with no modern buildings on the fort itself. The salt marshes to the north mark where the Roman shoreline once lay. The National Trust maintains the site, and the Norfolk Coast Path runs nearby. A 17th-century account noted walls still 3.7 metres high, but later robbing has left only foundations and turf-covered ramparts. The fort’s outline and interior features can be traced on the ground, offering a clear picture of Roman military organisation.