Galava
Galava, or the Ambleside Roman Fort as it is known locally, was a fort built around 79 AD. These ruins are situated in Borrans Park on the northern edge of Lake Windermere at Waterhead, near Ambleside in the Lake District, Cumbria. The location of this fort, which was protected on two sides by water, was to protect the crucial trade routes through Cumbria. This fort guarded and protected the Roman road from Brocavum (Brougham) to Glannoventa (Ravenglass).
The original timber fort, which housed 200 infantrymen, was replaced by a stone one, which could house 500 infantrymen, during the Hadrianic period. The second fort had substantial walls and buildings, both the commander’s house and the headquarters buildings were slated and glazed. However, outside these walls a civil settlement grew into what is now Ambleside. Although these ruins are not as impressive as the Hardknott Roman Fort, information is available from The Armitt Museum in Ambleside. The Kendal Museum of Natural History and Archaeology houses artefacts from this fort together with a tombstone which tells of a record clerk who was killed by enemy action.
Accommodation near Galava
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