The history
The Fort
The fort was built during the second wave of militarisation in Derbyshire around AD 75, as the Romans sought to suppress a rebellion by the Brigantes who controlled most of Northern England. It is located in a strategically important position on a promontory overlooking Glossop Brook and the River Etherow, at the junction of a road linking Manchester to forts further east and a supply route from the south into hostile territory in North Yorkshire. It was originally constructed with turf and timber ramparts and timber buildings, before the ramparts were rebuilt in stone at the beginning of the 2nd century.
The timber fort disappeared completely under the later stone fort, but traces of the wooden palisade have been found in the ramparts. The early timber fort could have been built rather quickly - modern experiments suggest that forts of this size could be built in about a month. The stone fort owes its existence to the decision taken by the Emperor Trajan to have some forts in Britain rebuilt in stone because they were still needed.
The 3.5 acre fort was of the usual playing card shape surrounded by stone walls backed by earth ramparts and fronted by ditches. Each gateway had two flanking towers; three of the gates were double but the South gate was much narrower because the approach from this side was easier, making this part of the fort more vulnerable to attack. The fort interior held barrack blocks, store sheds, granaries, officers’ billets, the commanding officer's house and a headquarters building. At present only the foundations of the stone headquarters building are visible; most of the other buildings appear to have been timber framed and have left little trace. The camp ovens were built into the rampart on the eastern side of the fort. A stone bath block lay outside the northern rampart and various small huts lay between the ditches and the outer palisade. A mansio (a Roman posting station) lay between the fort and the present Melandra Castle Rd, and a fair-sized vicus (a civilian settlement) lay under the present Gamesley Estate.
It was a single cohort fort, built to house a garrison of 500-1000 men. Archaeological and documentary evidence indicates that two cohorts of auxiliary troops were possibly at Melandra including the First Cohort of Frisiavones and the Third Cohort of the Bracara Augusta. A building stone was discovered before 1772, near the eastern corner of the fort, which was inscribed with ‘c(o)ho(rtis) I Frisiavo(num) (centuria) (Val(eri) Vitalis’. The stone was translated as ‘From the First Cohort of Frisiavonians the century of Valerius Vitalis (built this)”. The first cohort of the Frisiavones was a Roman auxiliary unit, originally recruited from the modern-day southern Netherlands. They formed an infantry cohort of 500. A tile stamp was also discovered at Melandra in 1972, inscribed with ‘C(ohors) (tertia) (Br(acaraugustanorum)’; (the Third Cohort of the Bracara Augusta). The stamp is deemed likely to be of Trajanic or Hadrianic date. The Third Cohort of the Bracara Augusta hailed from modern day Portugal and may have been in garrison at Manchester in the first half of the 2nd century and likely assisted with the construction of the fort. It’s currently unknown which unit lived and operated from the fort.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the fort was abandoned around AD 140 as the Roman frontier moved further north, although a civilian population may well have stayed on in the vicus. It then disappeared from the record until 1772, when it was described by the Reverend John Watson, Vicar of Stockport, who may well have coined the name “Melandra”; the most likely Roman name is Ardotalia or Edrotalia. At that time there was still a good deal of visible stonework, but most of the stone would soon be “robbed out” to build mills and houses.
In 1899 excavations began, initiated by a local amateur, Robert Hamnett. The Manchester branch of the Classical Association then conducted further excavations between 1905 and 1911, between 1936 and 1938, and again in 1958. In 1962 the spoil heaps from the earlier excavations were levelled out. In 1966 and 1969, prior to the building of the Gamesley Estate, rescue excavations took place on the site of the civilian settlement (vicus) supported by the local Melandra Field Group. In 1972 the bathhouse was discovered by Field Group member Mike Brown, and Manchester University Archaeology Department then ran training digs on the site between 1973 and 1998. The excavations provided evidence of the layout of the fort as well as the nearby civilian settlement. They also unearthed a wonderful variety of small finds that can tell us about Roman life.
Archaeological Discoveries
The artefacts recovered have included a number of small metal and bronze objects such as belt fasteners, a key, weights, a suspension hook for a steelyard type balance, a harness terrett and fragments of waste bronze. These items indicate that there was probably a bronze caster working in the nearby settlement. Very few coins have been found; the pay of the auxiliary soldiers was low enough to make sure that they were careful with their money! Most of the coins found are in poor condition and of low face value. Those which can be dated indicate, as does the pottery, that the period of maximum activity at the fort was between 80 to 140 AD, with the occupation ending between 140 to 150 AD. Various leather objects have also been found in the damper levels of the ditches including a tent panel, a sling, army boots and slippers. Some timber has also survived in the ditches, which was in good enough condition for it to be treated and preserved for future exhibition. The most important wooden objects found are the tent pegs which are in extremely good condition and may well date from the construction phase of the fort, or show that troops in transit were allowed to camp between the fort and the civilian settlement.
In 1972 the site was bought by Glossop Borough Council (which in 1974 became part of High Peak Borough Council.) The intention was to develop it as a tourist attraction, and over the next 5 years it was landscaped and made accessible. However, it soon began to deteriorate due to a combination of vandalism and an inadequate maintenance budget, and by the early 2000s was on Historic England’s “At Risk” Register. In 2012 GLAS (Glossopdale and Longdendale Archaeological Society) applied to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant for a community archaeology project, but this was refused because there was no plan for improved maintenance.
However, in 2019 Historic England and the Borough Council agreed in principle to a joint management plan. This was delayed by Covid, but finally came into effect in 2023 to run till 2028.
