Lavatrae
Roman era fort in England with minor remaining ruins
title: "Lavatrae" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["roman-sites-in-county-durham", "roman-fortifications-in-england"] description: "Roman era fort in England with minor remaining ruins" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavatrae" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Roman era fort in England with minor remaining ruins ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox military installation"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Lavatrae |
| partof | |
| location | Bowes, County Durham, England |
| type | Castra |
| coordinates | |
| open_to_public | |
| site_other_label | |
| site_other | |
| area | |
| code | |
| used | early 70s AD - 4th century AD |
| materials | A wooden fort surrounded by stone walls |
| height | |
| fate | |
| condition | Earthworks only survive |
| :: |
| ownership = | open_to_public = | site_other_label = | site_other = | area = | code = | built = | used = early 70s AD - 4th century AD | builder = | materials = A wooden fort surrounded by stone walls | height = | fate = | condition = Earthworks only survive | battles = | events =
Lavatrae, also known as Lavatris, was a Roman fort in the modern-day village of Bowes, County Durham, England. The medieval Bowes Castle was built within the perimeter of the fort.
Roman period
The Romans built a fort with wooden ramparts at Lavatrae in the early AD 70s, after an invasion of the region by Governor Petilius Cerealis.
Stone walls were built around the site in the 130s, and an external settlement called a vicus was constructed to the north of the fort, with a bathhouse to the south-east. The fort and the vicus were occupied until at least the late 4th century.
Post-Roman period
The bathhouse was excavated in the 19th century. The Cambridge Museum of Archaeology has a stone altar from the bathhouse, erected by the 1st Cohort of the Thracians.
Only earthworks and the parts of the stone walls of the bathhouse survive in the 21st century.
References
Bibliography
References
- It was intended as a waypoint on the northern leg of the [[Roman Empire. Roman]] equivalent of [[Watling Street]] in the section connecting [[Luguvalium]] ([[Carlisle, Cumbria. Carlisle]]) to [[Eboracum]] ([[York]]) and points south. It guarded the eastern entrance to the [[Stainmore]] Pass through the [[Pennines]], overlooking the [[River Greta, Durham. Birley. 1958
- "Roman Forts at Greta Bridge, Bowes and Brough and the Marching Camp at Stainmore Summit". Swaledale and Arkengarthdale Archaeology Group.
- Birley. 1958
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