Puits de Coventina (Carrawburgh)

Carrawburgh (près du fort de Brocolitia, mur d'Hadrien)

Near Hadrian's Wall, beside the Roman fort of Carrawburgh, a spring rises in a boggy field. A small rectangular basin, at the centre of a stone enclosure, collected it. In 1876, the archaeologist John Clayton excavated there and removed a treasure of offerings from the basin. According to the notice reproduced by Wikipedia, 13,487 coins were found there, from Mark Antony to Gratian, as well as ten altars to Coventina and Minerva. To these are added a relief of three water nymphs, two dedication slabs, two clay incense burners and a statue head. English Heritage, which keeps the objects, speaks of more than 20 altars and about 16,000 coins: the figures vary from one source to another. Coventina is a water goddess known almost only at Carrawburgh. The deposit seems to stop suddenly around 388, perhaps because of the edicts of Theodosius against pagan cults, but this is a hypothesis. The date of the well wall remains uncertain.

English Heritage — Chesters, la collection (puits de Coventina) ↗

Getting there: West of the Roman fort of Carrawburgh, in a field south of the B6318 road (Military Road), on the route of Hadrian's Wall. According to a visitor's account of 2014, the field is boggy, the well is surrounded by a fence and overgrown with grass, and there is no sign. Nothing was verified on site. Coordinates taken from the Megalithic Portal (accuracy 4 out of 5).

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound