A Visit to Corbridge - 'Corstopitum or Coria'

A Corbridge 'pant' = water trough/water supply fountain and there are many of these throughout the town

I'm letting the photos tell the story. 

(The history of Corbridge can be found here and here

Roman history junkies can find out more here and at the Roman-Britain site

Just click on the Dere Street link in the next paragraph.)

A wonderful Roman fort and garrison town can be found just outside of Corbridge. 

The town and fort were/are situated on crossroads of Romans roads: Dere Street (which became known as Watling Street and there is a street called Watling Street in Corbridge still) and the Stanegate.

I first heard of Corbridge at school when my French and English teachers lived here. Interestingly my French teacher was called Mrs. Thirlwell and we now live within a stone's throw of Thirlwall Castle.

Corstopitum or Coria? Which one was the true Roman name for Corbridge? We don't know for sure as Corstopitum was used but due to the discovery of the Vindolanda Writing Tablets it was found that Coria was the name that the Romans gave to this place (at least in the tablets).

Corstopitum = 'The Valley of the Resounding Noise' ?

"The names Coria from Ptolemy and Corie from the RC, may be derived from the same Celtic roots as the Gaelic word Coire 'a round hollow in a mountainside', and the Welsh word Cwm 'valley, dale'; both words adequately describe the location of the Corbridge station. The Antonine name Corstopitum, is possibly a Romanisation of the original Celtic name suffixed by the Latin word strepitum 'loud noise, resounding', the Roman-British name therefore meaning something along the lines of 'The Valley of the Resounding Noise', a name which undoubtedly reflects its use as a busy legionary garrison post close to the troublesome Scottish border region." (quoted from the website:
http://www.roman-britain.org/places/corstopitum.htm)
The small child in me always thinks of the "Carry On!" films..."Cor! Stop it! 'Um !" every time I see/read the word - 'Corstopitum'. Coria, as a name, is far more sensible - don't you think?

Corbridge is a very attractive town - a lot of the stone in the houses is Roman. Today (as there must also have been in Roman times) there are pubs, restaurants, cafes and quirky shops plus plenty of history. I think I still need more time to wander round the town and take some more photos.... the local tourist information centre can recommend a variety of local walks. A very good spot to watch the world go by is The Angel Inn of Corbridge which has been a coaching inn since 1726. More interesting links and info can be found at Wikipedia - here. Hard copies of local information and history are best obtained from the tourist info centre which also doubles as a library.