Binchester fort hopes to be an attraction

Jun 29 2009 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

Origins of the fort

THE origins of Binchester, called Vonovia by the Romans, go back to AD79.

Dere Street runs through the fort, with the first base believed to have been built by the Ninth Legion.

Early in the Second Century the fort was rebuilt by the Sixth Legion. The civilian settlement would have catered for the garrison and the traffic along Dere Street.

Inscriptions suggest the garrison during the Second Century was the 1,000-strong Ala Vettonum, from central Spain. A total of 88 pillars, which supported the hot room of the bath house, still survive.

An intriguing feature of the bath house are the foot prints of an adult and child who, 1,700 years ago, walked across the edge of a newly-laid floor.