CATTERICK (Cataractonium)		Quality of Remains
		Ease of Access
		Atmosphere & Setting

History & Occupation:

Founded not long after 70 AD when the governor Cerialis dealt with the revolt of the Brigantes queen Cartimandua, Cataractonium was a strategically important fort. It guarded the crossing of the Swale by Dere Street and was part of the major troop and supply system from the settled lands of the south to the borderlands of the north. Apparently part of the system during the campaigns of Agricola, the fort was abandoned at some point afterwards, only to be reoccupied and repaired around 160 AD when the troops were pulled back from the Antonine Wall. Catterick was at the centre of a network of roads, with Dere Street running north to Piercebridge and south to Aldborough, along with a road following the modern A66 west to Greta Bridge and possible another running southwest to Wensley. The only unit identified at Catterick so far are the Numerus Equitum Sarmatorum Bremenacensium. This unit was known to have been stationed at Ribchester and it is unlikely they were ever the garrison unit at Catterick, though a detachment may have served there for a short time.

Remains and Visit:

Of Catterick fort and the considerable attached vicus there is virtually nothing to see. The modern A1 trunk road was driven through the centre of the fort in the 50s and Catterick racecourse lies over much of the rest. Only one small fragment of masonry visible is just inside the track of the racecourse and is visible from the road, this being a stretch of the east wall. Information boards can be found here and there around the racecourse giving detaikls of what lies hidden.

Images:

East wall	East wall