Glannoventa

Glannoventa is a Roman fort near Muncaster in Cumbria. It sits beside the Roman naval base at Ravenglass, linked to the wider Roman road network. The fort’s name appears in ancient records as Clanoventa, Glannibanta and Cantiventi across different centuries. A unit of Hadrian’s fleet, the First Cohort Aelia Classica, was stationed here in 158 AD. Later, in the fourth century, the Cohort I Morinorum of 500 men took its place. The site has suffered from a railway line cutting through it and from coastal erosion. The bath house survives as the most visible remnant. Its walls rise to four metres and include brick archways, earning it the local name Walls Castle. English Heritage now protects the structure. Beyond the fort lies the vicus, the civilian settlement that grew up to the east. Archaeologists began excavating this area in 2013 after geophysical surveys revealed buried features. Visitors find the standing walls of the bath house an impressive sight. The brickwork and archways show how the Romans built for durability. The vicus remains largely unexcavated, hinting at further discoveries beneath the soil. The fort’s position near the coast offers views across the landscape. The railway line and eroding shoreline remind visitors of the site’s changing fortunes over centuries.