Welcome to February, the month of love – are you carrying a torch for anyone? If you were an ancient Roman, perhaps you would carry an oil lamp, as found at the Ambleside Roman fort.
This is a sherd of a mica-dusted oil lamp, made at some point from the first to fourth century CE. Inhabitants of the fort and nearby vicus (civilian settlement) would have used these to illuminate long, dark winter evenings across the far north of the Roman empire.
We have a photo of a replica lamp, showing you how it would have looked at the time. The lamp would have been a small, wide, covered disk to put oil in, with a hole to provide an air supply and to thread in a cotton wick to light the lamp.
This specific sherd shows that the lamp was made from mica-dusted pottery, where the clay has been coated with mica particles to give a golden or bronze sheen to the lamp.
The first version of the Ambleside Roman fort was built from timber at some point in the first century during the governorship of Julius Agricola, from 80-85 CE. The second version was constructed from stone with timber barracks in the second century, and its remains are still visible today in Borrans Parks, Ambleside, at the northernmost tip of Lake Windermere.
Cumbria was an important strategic location for the Roman empire, as it was at the Western end of the border between Roman-controlled Britain and Scotland, ruled by the Picts. Hadrian’s Wall, the Roman border wall between England and Scotland, had an outpost at Bowness-on-Solway on the northwest Cumbrian coast.
There are three forts in the Lake District at Ambleside, Hardknott and Ravenglass. Ambleside itself was built at the meeting of the Rothay and Brathay valleys, giving the Romans control over routes to the Kirkstone and Hardknott passes.
We reopen on Wednesday 12th February – visit us and our new exhibition on the Roman fort and its turbulent history, A Battle of Ambleside…
Sources:
• The Armitt Collection
