Condercum

Condercum was a Roman fort on a hilltop west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It stood on Hadrian’s Wall, about seven miles east of Rudchester and two miles west of Newcastle. The site now lies beneath a reservoir and housing estate beside the A186 road. A small temple to the local god Antenociticus survives nearby. The fort once had a commanding view over the surrounding countryside. The fort was built between 122 and 124 AD by Legio II Augusta. Two granaries were added by sailors from Arbeia fort while the legion was elsewhere. A cavalry unit of five hundred men from northern Spain garrisoned the fort from 205 to 367 AD. The fort measured 570 feet north to south and 400 feet east to west, enclosing just over five acres. It had three gates on the north side, two side gates for the military road, and a south gate leading to a stone causeway across the vallum ditch. Visitors can see the remains of the temple to Antenociticus a hundred yards east of the fort. The temple measures fifteen feet by twenty feet, with an apse that once held a life-size statue. Nearby, a stone causeway still crosses the vallum ditch, flanked by mounds. Excavations have uncovered parts of the vicus, baths and a mansio for official travellers. Finds include altars, brooches, a silver spoon and fragments of the fort’s defences.