the wall did there reach to the very edge of the sea,-why therefore are we to conclude, that the security of the east coast was not also an object of the first importance to them, or that they would neglect it* ? But that they did extend their communications beyond the station at Wallsend, is a fact of which, fortunately, more convincing proofs than mere conjecture evince the truth. At Chirton, may yet be traced the form of a Roman station, known by the name of Blake Chesters—a name sufficiently expressive of its origin. In the neighbouring fields too coins have been found at various times; and I am told by good authority, that several squares and oblongs, extending from West Chirton to Tynemouth, may yet be traced. Supported by these facts, the conjecture of a fort having existed at Tynemouth, amounts almost to certainty.

If we are satisfied of the existence of a Roman fort or station at Tynemouth, there can be no uncertainty respecting the troops by which it was garrisoned, since the inscription on the altar satisfactorily proves that the Cohors quarta Lingonum was stationed here. This is the only inscription hitherto discovered in this island, in which the name of this cohort is found, nor is there any other record of its presence in Britain. The name of the Cohors secunda Lingonum occurs in inscriptions at Moresby in Cumberland, at Lanchester, and, as Mr. Horsley thinks, at Ilkley in Yorkshire. Now it is very remarkable, that neither the Cohors secunda, nor the Cohors quarta, LINGONUM, are mentioned in the Notitia, but in that curious record there occur the names of the Cohors secunda, and the Cohors quarta, LERGORUM. This circumstance has given rise to a doubt in my mind, which, if well founded, will be found of some importance to a correct knowledge of the geography of this part of Roman Britain. For it is further worthy of remark, that these two cohorts Lergorum have never yet been found

* The secure possession, which the occupation of the points of land at the mouth of the Tyne, gave them of the country to the south, was no doubt one reason why they found it unnecessary to occupy so many stations on the east, as on the west coast.

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mentioned in any inscription discovered in Britain. So that the cohorts Lingonum occur in inscriptions, and not in the Notitia, and the cohorts Lergorum in the Notitia, and not in inscriptions. I am hence strongly inclined to suspect, that some of the early transcribers or printers of the Notitia have made a mistake, and put Lergorum for Lingonum. And that the orthography of the Notitia is not considered infallibly correct, we have evidence in some literal corrections made by Mr. Horsley. Should the doubt which I have here thrown out be considered to be well founded, it will, as I have said, be found to have an important inference with regard to the Roman geography of this part of the country, as it will decidedly prove that Mr. Horsley was correct in beginning the stations per lineam valli at the east end of the wall, and not at the west, as preceding writers had done. For by the Notitia, the first of these stations, Segedunum, is said to have been garrisoned by the Cohors quarta Lergorum, supposed Lingonum, and this altar erected by the prefect of the Cohors quarta Lingonum is found at Tynemouth, evidently shewing that that station was at this end of the wall, if my supposition be correct. Segedunum, it is well known, is placed by Mr. Horsley at Wallsend; a decision which the preceding remarks may perhaps at first sight be thought to invalidate, as should they be correct, this station ought rather to be placed at Tynemouth. But as the assigning of such name to the station at Tynemouth would be entirely subversive of the principle of order in which these stations seem entered in the Notitia, and by the observance of which Mr. Horsley was enabled to fix them with such apparent certainty, I see no reason for deviating from his arrangement. I am therefore inclined to be of opinion, that the station at Tynemouth was only a secondary station or fort, subordinate to that at Wallsend, and under the command of the prefect of the Cohort stationed there. Motives of pleasure or the nature of the service on which he was employed, would no doubt often induce him to fix his quarters here, and on some of such occasions this altar was probably erected. That no name has been handed down to

us that can with probability be applied to this station ought not to surprise us, or raise any doubt of this point of land having been occupied by the Romans; for if a dependency on the station at Wallsend, it of course would not be comprehended in the plan of the Notitia, and its situation would naturally preclude it from being included in any of the Itinera of either Antonine or Richard. But with regard to name, I cannot help suspecting that it may, together with the station at South Shields, be included by Ptolemy in the appellation of Ostia Vedre. For as this name is in the plural, it must be inferred either that the Tyne had at that time more mouths than one, or that this phrase alludes to the forts, which, like gates, secured its entrance. In after times it may have had a more specific name, which has since been lost. amidst the lapse of ages,-a fate which has no doubt attended that of many other stations.

Newcastle, December 1, 1821.

An Account of a Roman Station, near Glanton, Northumberland, in a Letter from JOHN SMART, Esq. of Trewitt, to the Rev. JOHN HODGSON, Secretary.

Trewitt House, January 10th, 1822.

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MY DEAR SIR,

HAVE great pleasure in communicating to our Society of Antiquaries the discovery that I have made of a Roman Station, which I consider to be the " Alauna Amnis," of the 4th Iter of Richard of Cirencester, placed by Dr. Stukeley at Alnwick; though others suppose that the village of Glanton occupies that station. It is situated at Crawley Tower, which, with the farm offices, occupies its east angle. It is on a considerable eminence, about 400 yards east of Watling-street, between the village of Glanton and the river Bremish. It is 290 feet long, 160 feet broad, and is surrounded by a foss of 30 feet wide, and an agger of 20 feet thick. It commands a most delightful view of the vale of Whittingham, and nearly the whole length of the Bremish from its source to Horton Castle; and certainly the immediate neighbourhood is the best fortified in "ancient Britain," as from the station can be seen no less than seven strong British and Saxon camps, several of which have triple ramparts; namely, Harehill, near Bewick; Broughlaw, by Ingram; the gorge of the Bremish, above ditto, through which the Britons must have passed when they quitted their strongly fortified town at the foot of Greenshaw Hill, between Linhope and Hartside; the Clinch Hill, Callaly Castle Hill, and Cross Hill, Black

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Chester and the Castle Hill above Alnham. The farthest distance of these from the station is about four miles. The church at Alnham is built in the site of a small Roman camp, which most probably has been for a Centurion's guard, to protect their herds of cattle when grazing during summer in the rich pastures on the bank of the river Aln above Whittingham. I observed several small camps above Rothbury, belonging to the Britons and Saxons, which must have been appropriated to a similar purpose. With respect to Richard of Cirencester's Itinerary, as it relates to the Roman province of Valentia, I am confirmed in the idea that his " Alauna Amnis," in his 4th Iter, is the station at Crawley Tower, as the eminence on which I found it, declines down both to the rivers Aln and Bremish; but in order to elucidate my opinion, I will transcribe a part of that Iter, only premising that Richard had a very imperfect knowledge of the castrametation of the Romans, along the eastern branch of Watling-street, as he omits four between Ad Murum and Alauna Amne, viz. at Bolam, Thornton, Brinkburn Priory, and Framlington Hall Hill; but his knowledge of the western branch, through the same province, is perfectly correct, and which is seen by uniting a part of the 5th and 9th Iters.