In the heart of the Lake District, on the northern edge of Lake Windermere, lies one of the most beautifully located Roman forts in Britain: Ambleside. Most likely occupied between the late 1st and the 4th centuries AD, this Cumbrian site covers an area of around 3 acres on a relatively marshy plateau with a number of rocky outcrops, and flanked on two sides by water (the River Rothay to the west and Lake Windermere to the south). In the Roman period, Ambleside fort occupied a strategic position guarding the road that ran west–east between the port of Ravenglass on the Cumbrian coast (probably the ancient Itunocelum) and the fort of Brougham (Brocavum) near modern Penrith. It has been suggested that further roads run from Ambleside towards the south (in the direction of the Roman fort of Watercrook near Kendal) and the north (towards Carlisle, ancient Luguvalium). It is possible that Ambleside fort was the site of Galava, mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary, although an identification with Clanoventa has also been suggested. Whatever its Roman name, though, the idyllic location of the stone fort’s ruins makes it an ideal visitor attraction for the numerous tourists that every year come to enjoy the beauty of Lake Windermere. However, little is known about the more-violent moments of the site’s history.
Research history
While the existence of a Roman fort at Ambleside had long been recognised by antiquarians, systematic excavations were not carried out at the site until the second decade of the 20th century, led by the famous Oxford-based scholars F Haverfield and R G Collingwood. The latter had a personal local connection, as he was born not far away from the southern shore of Lake Windermere. Their investigations, together with some later work carried out by archaeologists such as M E Burkett and R Leech in the second half of the 20th century, indicated the presence of two superimposed Roman forts and an extramural settlement. Most of these discoveries have been published over the years in the Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, and more recently geophysical surveys and other investigations have further expanded our knowledge of the fort and its environs.
Finds from the fort are currently exhibited at the Armitt Museum in Ambleside and at the Kendal Museum of Natural History and Archaeology, but despite the investigations that have taken place, research at Ambleside is still comparatively limited. Many aspects of the fort’s history and its occupants remain unknown, including the identity of its garrisons.
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