This, which is a little to the west of the town of Corbridge, is doubtless the ancient Corstopitum. The station, which is now entirely levelled, and can with difficulty be traced, has stood upon a gently swelling knoll on the north bank of the Tyne. A bridge, the foundations of which the floods of seventeen centuries have spared, connected it with the opposite bank of the river; the remains of this bridge are precisely similar in appearance to those on the North Tyne at Cilurnum. The bridge has crossed the river obliquely, a circumstance which corroborates the opinion formerly expressed, that the bridges in these parts consisted of horizontal roadways, supported upon piers—unless, indeed, we suppose that the Romans were acquainted with the construction of the skew-arch. Hutchinson states, that a ‘military way passes from this place south-west through Dilston Park, over Hexham Fell to Old Town in Allendale, and meets with the Maiden-way at Whitley Castle.’ Abundance of medals, inscriptions, and other Roman antiquities, have been found at Corchester. Pieces of Roman bricks and pots are spread over the surface of the ground. The church at Corbridge has been raised at the expense of the station. Horsley conceives that this fort was abandoned before the compilation of the Notitia, as it is not mentioned in that document. It is about two miles south of the Wall.
The large altar which is figured in the initial letter at the beginning of this volume, formed, in Horsley’s days, the shaft of the market-cross at Corbridge. It is now on the stairs of the entrance-tower, at the castle of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The inscription is defaced, but the carving on both sides remains; on the one side is a soldier, armed—the representative probably of war; on the other is a warrior, having laid aside his weapons, dragging an amphora of wine—a picture, emblematic of peace. The singular use made of this heathen relic suggests the insertion here of the story of the ‘Fairy stone,’ as it is still told in this neighbourhood.
A Roman altar in the vicinity of Bywell was, during the ‘troublesome times’ of 1715, put to a use little contemplated either by the ancients or moderns. It was employed as the post-office of the non-juring gentry of the district. The parties, wishing to keep up a correspondence with each other, arranged to deposit their communications in a hollow of the altar. In the gray of the morning little girls clad in green, and trained to the task, approached the stone with a dancing step, and, having got the letters, retired with antic gestures. So well did they perform their part that they were mistaken for fairies, and the object of their visits was not discovered for a long time afterwards. The stone was known by the name of the Fairy stone.
CORBRIDGE LANX.
But the greatest curiosity which has been discovered at Corstopitum, is the silver lanx, or dish, which is represented on the next page. A piece of plate so massive, is of rare occurrence in the stations of the North. It is in the possession of the duke of Northumberland. There is an accurate cast of it in the Newcastle Museum of Antiquities.
'It was found (says Mr. Robert Cay, in a letter of 4th March 1734) near Corbridge, by some ignorant poor people who have cut off the feet in such a vile barbarous manner, that they have broke two holes through the table, and a small piece off one of the corners too.' It is 19½ inches long, and 15 broad; it weighs about 150 ounces. The rim of the plate rises nearly an inch above the interior. The figures have been punched into form. Gale’s conjecture as to its use is probably the correct one. ‘This is big enough (he says) to contain the exta of a sheep, or other small victims, which seems to me to be the likeliest employment for it, and that it was one of these sacrificing utensils that Virgil calls Lances:
Lancibus et pandis fumantia reddimus exta.’
The principal figures on the plate are probably, those of Diana, Minerva, Juno, Vesta, and Apollo.
On the left side of the design is Diana, armed with a bow and arrow. Below her feet is an urn with water flowing from it; in front of her, is an altar with an offering, of a globular form, upon it, and below the altar, is a dog of the greyhound species, looking up to the goddess.