Footsteps from the past

The Old Church, Brampton, a tiny, abandoned building, standing alone in an old graveyard. A peaceful scene.

Now . . .

. . .  imagine a time before the church, before the gravestones, before the trees – 2,000 years ago in fact, 1st century AD, as opposed to the 21st century – and the scene would be very different. As this was the site of a Roman fort.

In the 1st century, the Romans built a series of forts stretching from the east to the west between the Tyne and the Solway, joined by a road known as Stanegate. This was well before the building of Hadrian’s Wall. This particular Stanegate fort was erected on a perfect defence site, on a spur of ground above the River Irthing. It was made to hold about 500 men, who patrolled the Stanegate, which was acting as a frontier for the Roman Empire. The fort was defended by an earthwork and ditch, much of which is still visible now. It is possible to walk round the whole site and see where it would have been. Early excavation work revealed two granaries, a barracks block and a commandant’s house and headquarters building. It would appear that the fort was deliberately dismantled when Hadrian’s Wall was built, so there is nothing to see of it now, however all the foundations are still intact and preserved underground.

After the Roman’s withdrew, a community grew up in the area and local tradition has it that, in the 4th century, St Ninian built a church within the earthworks of the fort and dedicated it to St Martin, his teacher. In the 8th century a stone church was built on the same site beside the north east ramparts of the Roman fort. Stones from Hadrian’s Wall were used in the building. The church has a long history, but it was eventually abandoned and now stands alone and empty.

So 2,000 years of history for a celebration of 2,000 blips. Many of those blips tell a story of the history ‘beneath our feet’ so it seemed appropriate to have such a story for today. It was a discovery we made this morning and I am now sharing it. So, look, ponder and, before you step on the grass, wonder at footsteps from the past.