Bremenium
| Bremenium | |
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Western gateway to Bremenium
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 Bremenium
 Bremenium shown within Northumberland |
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| OS grid reference | NY832985 |
| Coordinates | 55°16′52″N 2°15′50″W / 55.281°N 2.264°WCoordinates: 55°16′52″N 2°15′50″W / 55.281°N 2.264°W |
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Bremenium was an ancient Roman fort (castra) located at Rochester, Northumberland, England. The fort was one of the defensive structures built along Dere Street, a Roman road running from York to Corbridge and onwards to Melrose. Significantly the fort is a long way north of Hadrian's Wall.
The fort's name, Bremenium, is mentioned in the Ravenna Cosmography, the Antonine Itinerary and Ptolemy’s Geographia.
The fort is situated in the village of Rochester, five miles (8 km) north-west of Otterburn on the A68 road between Corbridge and Jedburgh.
The fort is 8 1⁄2 miles (14 km) north of Risingham (Roman name Habitancum), the previous fort on Dere Street. The name Bremenium means 'The Place of the Roaring Stream'. The site is in a strong position, occupying the end of a ridge with the ground falling away steeply to the north and west, and giving a clear view over the Rede Valley and beyond.
The fort is oblong in shape, and measures 485 feet (148 m) north to south and 445 feet (136 m) east to west, giving and area of just over 5 acres (20,000 m2). There was a gate in each of the four walls, which were of stone backed by a bank of earth. It appears that an early 1st-century fort with a turf rampart occupied the site, and that it was replaced by a stone fort during the time that Quintus Lollius Urbicus was Governor of Britain. He stayed there on his way north to build the Antonine Wall in 142 AD. The fort remained occupied even after the abandonment of the Antonine Wall in the early 160s.
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