Camboglanna (Birdoswald Roman Fort)

Although King Arthur is predominantly associated with Southwest England (Cornwall, Somerset), there are a lot of northern legends, especially when taking into account the famous '12 battles'. There were definitely campaigns in the Scottish lowlands above Hadrian's Wall against the Picts, especially around Montrose, or Trimontium (the Eildon Hills). Birdoswald was a fort on the Wall itself, on a magnificent site -- a bluff in a loop of the river Irthing. Its Roman name was Camboglanna, and it could very well have been a base for one of Arthur's northern expeditions. Some have suggested that this was the site of the Battle of Camlann (because of the 'Cam...'?), but this is unlikely.

Little remains of the fort, except for the enclosing wall, now no more than 4-6 feet high, which now contains a large farm. It would seem from the picture that the fort would be hard to defend, since it faces an upward slope. However, what you can't see is the steep drop-off to the river beyond the cattle meadow. Also, Hadrian's Wall itself ran along the front on the other side of the farmhouse.

Note: I have been given to understand that major excavations have taken place here since I last visited in the late 1970s. In some senses, it is almost a theme park now along the lines of nearby Vindolanda. (I stand corrected by a correspondent: Theme Park gives the wrong impression, implying roller-coasters and pageants. Educational Park is more apt -- a place to take secondary school students to see reconstructions and actually observe archeologists at work.)

A digression back to an earlier age: Calgacus the Caledonian, an earlier "King Arthur" who was defeated by the Roman general Agricola at Mons Graupius in northern Scotland.