Condercum

Condercum was a Roman fort on the site of the modern-day Condercum Estate in Benwell, a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, England [1]. It was the third fort on Hadrian's Wall, about 6.8 miles east of Rudchester fort and only 2.4 miles west of Pons Aelius fort (Newcastle), and was situated on a hilltop 2 miles to the west of the city [1]. The fort was built between 122 and 124 AD by the Legion Legio II Augusta [1]. In the 2nd century Condercum was garrisoned by the Cohors I Vangionum Milliaria Equitata, a part-mounted unit from Upper Germany [1]. From 205 to 367 a five-hundred-strong auxiliary cavalry unit recruited from the Astures tribe in northern Spain, was stationed here after being at South Shields [1]. The fort measured 570 feet from north to south by 400 feet east to west and the defences enclosed an area of just over 5 acres [1]. The fort contained a commandant's house, headquarters, two granaries, workshops, barracks, stables and a hospital [1]. The remains of a temple dedicated to Antenociticus can still be seen a hundred yards to the east of the fort [1].