KEY
Key found at Ambleside Roman fort
Hardware shop in Ambleside
Key found at Ambleside Roman fort
Roman Cumbria was a region on the fringes of the Empire’s control. For the Roman authorities, the security of Roman power in the region would have been one of their highest priorities. This meant constructing forts to ensure that their control over the region was hard to dislodge.​
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However, it was not only the Empire which required security. Those who lived on the frontier also had the need for personal security much as we do today. Many people had valuables and documents which had to be secured to stop them from getting into the wrong hands. Just like now, this would have been done by locking them away. Locks were common on boxes and doors throughout Roman Britain. While many of the locks are lost due to corrosion, many of the keys remain. Two examples of Roman keys have been found by archaeologists in excavations conducted inside and around the fort.​
While heavily corroded and rusted, the keys both can be identified as lift keys. These would likely have been used to open tumbler locks like the locks we use today and are one of the most common key types found in Roman Britain. While they look and function much more crudely than modern examples of keys, they still share many visual similarities and are easily recognisable to us.
Continue along Compston Road until you read Kindred Spirits, which has a stained-glass window above the door. This is our next location – an appropriate one for our next Roman artefact! Take a moment to imagine what it would have been like here when Romans and local people passed through this area with livestock and horsedrawn transport. The walking time is approximately one-two minutes.