Lancaster Roman Fort

About

Lancaster Roman Fort, also known as Wery Wall or Galacum, is the modern name given to a ruined former Roman fort atop Castle Hill in Lancaster in North West England. The first castrum was founded c. 80 AD within the Roman province of Britannia.

The fort's name is not known. A Roman milestone found four miles outside Lancaster, with an inscription ending L MP IIII, meaning "from L— 4 miles", suggests that it began with that letter. However in 1998 David Shotter suggested that Galacum, a name that has been associated with the fort at Over Burrow, would be more appropriately applied to Lancaster.

The fort is thought to be the origin of the name Lancaster. It appears in the Domesday Book as Loncastre, where "Lon" refers to the River Lune, with the Old English cæster (borrowed from the Latin castrum) for "fort".