SPEAR HEADS
A spear heard found at the Ambleside Roman fort - evidence of military activity
Area of the fort around the South Gatehouse
A spear heard found at the Ambleside Roman fort - evidence of military activity
Where you now stand beside the South Gatehouse, one of the heavily defended entrances of the fort, armoured auxiliary soldiers would have stood ready with their weapons, prepared to defend the fort from enemy attack, and imposing on the landscape. The gate would have been where troops and supplies circulated in and out. The weaponry used to guard this movement would have acted as a symbol of Roman force to the local population in Ambleside. An iron spearhead discovered here by archaeologists shows the brutal atmosphere that would have existed at the fort as soldiers prepared for possible threats to the fort’s position of power.​
Roman spears were a common weapon in the Roman army due to their easy production and would have served two main functions. Firstly, they would have been used as a dangerous thrusting weapon during hand-to-hand combat. The other use was as a missile, thrown at approaching enemy forces from a distance. While only the leaf-shaped forged iron head remains of this spear today, a strong and flexible wooden shaft, usually made of ash or hazel, would have been attached. At the other end, an iron butt was added for improved balance.
There is no one way of categorising Roman spearheads. In the first two centuries AD a wide array of spears was used by both regular infantry and cavalry auxiliary units. It has been suggested that variation in design depended on the individual soldiers at each fort and that army units adopted distinctive local features in their weaponry to serve the needs of their environment. In this context, the Ambleside spear is an expression of local military life.
Walk forward a few metres to the remains of the first building in the fort. This is the commander’s house, or praetorium.