endlessrarities | Hardknott Roman Fort

They say an army marches on its stomach, and the Roman army was no exception. Trying to garrison an Empire with outposts in weird and wonderful out-of-the-way places like Hardknott fort [or to give it its Latin name, Mediobogdum, which seems like an appropriate name for this miserable dump teetering on the edge of the civilised world. This is, of course, purely from a Roman point of view...] meant that maintaining a reliable supply chain was vital.

Grain would have been transported by ship then offloaded at a harbour site on the west coast. From there, it was moved by road to the fort itself, where it would be stored on-site in granary buildings.

And this is one of the granaries. Or so it's believed, and it looks like a reasonable interpretation. The low wall running down the centre of the building would have supported a raised floor, indication that the structure was built with the intention of allowing air to circulate:-

This is good indication that the building would have functioned as a granary - the circulation of air within the building wasvital to keeping grain dry and free from mould.

And the exterior of the building shows just what a robust structure it was, with substantial buttresses helping to support the walls and prevent them bowing outwards:-