Carlisle CC Dig-up "Old Treasures"

Cricket club dig reveals significant Roman heritage.

Carlisle News and Star.

Sunday, 28 May 2017.

PTG 2150-10914.

Archaeologists carrying out a dig at the Carlisle Cricket Club's grounds in Cumbria as part of the requirements set down for them to build a new pavilion, have found what they believe to be a Roman Bath house along with hundreds of artefacts including coins.  When staff from archaeology contractor Wardell Armstrong dug a trench in what had been an old tennis court, they found a wall, its rough sandstone blocks arranged in a long, sweeping curve.  

That was the start of a two week archaeology roller coaster that eventually revealed a well preserved and sophisticated bath house that was once a popular meeting place for members of Rome's Ala Petriana cavalry regiment based nearby.  Wardell Armstong technical director Frank Giecco called it a "highly significant find”.  “We'd never known where the bath-house was for the cavalry fort. It would have been a very important part of life for these troops. There were 1,000 of them based in the area and they were paid more money than other Roman soldiers”.

The Roman Empire's most elite guardians on its empire's northernmost frontier, the Ala Petriana troops were feared and respected. The bath-house that has emerged at the cricket ground throws a fascinating light on their life.  The catalogue of discoveries grew steadily over the life of the dig.  First came evidence of a sophisticated bath-house building, complete with its own 'hypocaust', the Roman equivalent of underfloor-heating. 

Other things found included an iron arrow head, bone hairpins (suggesting women were allowed into the bath house), pottery, and more than 100 superbly preserved coins from the second and third century.  There were also fragments of still gleaming scale armour, used by the soldiers in their dangerous work along Hadrian's Wall which ran on the other side of the river from where the cricket club now lies.

Dig leader Kevin Mounsey said: “There was little expectation when we started. Finds like this are rare – it's Premiere League archaeology. Nobody knew there was anything like this down here. It would be great if the whole site could be opened up and something permanent could be created here. Carlisle doesn't have much in the way of standing Roman remains, but that's for others to decide”.

Mike Rayson, the Carlisle Cricket Club’s chairman said: “I hope that the site can be opened up. It's a really significant find. As Frank Giecco said, this is the kind of history you come across once in a lifetime”.