Concangis

Concangis
What the early defences at Concangis may have looked like
Province	Britania
Administrative unit	Britannia Inferior
— Legions —
II Augusta ?
— Alae —
Ala I Antonina Ala II Asturum
— Numeri —
Numeri Vigilum
Coordinates	54°51′24″N 1°34′20″W / 54.85659°N 1.572263°W / 54.85659; -1.572263
County	County Durham
Country	England
UK-OSNG reference	NZ270512

Concangis was an auxiliary castra close to Dere Street in the Roman province of Lower Britain (Britannia Inferior). Its ruins are located in Chester-le-Street, Durham, in England, and are now known as Chester-le-Street Roman Fort. It is situated 6 miles (10 km) north of Durham and 8 miles (13 km) south of Newcastle upon Tyne.

The Roman fort of Concangis is located east of the forts of Longovicium (Lanchester) and Vindomora (Ebchester) and 8 miles (13 km) south from Pons Aelius (Newcastle upon Tyne). It is east of the main Roman road of Dere Street that connected other forts nearby the wall and beyond to Eboracum (York). The fort was situated on another road, Cade's Road, leading from York to Pons Aelius. It is also believed it may have joined Dere Street through a branch road heading west connected to Longovicium (situated on Dere Street), but this has yet to be discovered. The discovery by Raymond Selkirk of an abutment on the Cong Burn stream suggests a bridge was built there and connected this fort with the one at Vindomora (Ebchester) to the west.

It is listed on both the 4th/5th century Notitia Dignitatum and the 7th century Ravenna Cosmography. The name Concangis is Celtic rather than Roman and is thought to have meant something like 'the horse people', perhaps due to a nearby tribe.

The fort is situated on a high bluff, overlooking the valleys of the Wear to the east and the Cong Burn to the north, the fort is in the sort of position frequently favoured by Roman military surveyors. The road north to Pons Aelius passes west of the fort and made monitoring of traffic easy. The fort covered roughly six and a half acres, and was built first in turf and timber probably in 70's AD by the Legio VIIII Hispana (Ninth Hispanic Legion), and later in stone by the Legio II Augusta (The Second Augustan Legion), probably during the early 2nd century, coinciding with the construction of Hadrian's Wall, which was also built by Legio II.