Coria ( Corbridge ) Coria was a fort and town , located south of Hadrian ' s Wall , in the Roman province of Britannia . Its full Latin name is uncertain . Today it is known as Corchester or Corbridge Roman Site , adjoining Corbridge in the English county of Northumberland . It is currently in the guardianship of English Heritage and is partially exposed as a visitor attraction , including a site museum . Name . The place - name appears in contemporary records as both Corstopitum and Corie Lopocarium . These forms are generally recognised as corrupt . Suggested reconstructions include Coriosopitum , Corsopitum or Corsobetum . However , the Vindolanda tablets show that it was locally referred to by the simple form , Coria , the name for a local tribal centre . The suffix ought to represent the name of the local tribe , a member of the Brigantian confederation , but its correct form is , as yet , unknown . Early occupation . There is evidence of Iron Age round houses on the site , but the first Romans in the area built the Red House Fort , half a mile ( 800 m ) to the west , as a supply camp for Agricola ' s campaigns . Forts . Soon after Roman victories in modern Scotland , around AD 84 , a new fort was built on the present site with turf ramparts and timber gates . Internally , barrack blocks surrounded a headquarters building , a commander ’ s residence , administrative staff accommodation , workshops and granaries . It was probably occupied by a 500 - strong cavalry unit called the " Ala Petriana " , but was destroyed by fire in AD 105 . A second timber fort was built guarding a major crossing of the River Tyne at a time when the Solway Firth - Tyne divide was the Roman frontier . Around AD 120 , when Hadrian ’ s Wall was built , the fort was again rebuilt , probably to house infantry troops away from the Wall . About twenty years later , when the frontier was pushed further north and the Antonine Wall built , the first stone fort was erected under the Governor Quintus Lollius Urbicus . Town development . After the Romans fell back to Hadrian ' s Wall in AD 163 , the army seems to have been largely removed from Coria . Its ramparts were levelled and a major rebuilding programme of a very different nature was instigated . A series of probable temples were erected , followed by granaries , a fountain house and a large courtyard complex which may have been intended to become a civilian forum or a military storehouse and workshop establishment . It was never finished in its original plan . Burnt timber buildings may relate to Cassius Dio ' s reference to enemy tribes crossing the frontier , but by the early 3rd century there was more construction . Two compounds opposite the supposed forum were built as part of a military supply depot within the town . It was connected with both the Second and the Sixth Legion and may have been part of the supply network for Septimus Severus ' northern campaigns . Information on the 3rd - and 4th - century town is lacking , but an elaborate house was certainly put up which may have housed an Imperial official of some kind . Coria was probably a major market centre for the mineral industries in the area – lead , iron and coal – as well as agriculture , as evidenced by the granaries . A pottery store has also been identified . When occupation came to an end is unclear . It is not even known if the site was still occupied when the Anglo - Saxons arrived to found adjoining Corbridge . The Corbridge Hoard was found here . In fiction . In Rosemary Sutcliff ' s 1965 novel " The Mark of the Horse Lord " the lead character is a gladiator in Corstopitum , before leaving to join the Dal Riata north of the Antonine Wall . In Ruth Downie ' s 2008 novel , " Terra Incognita , " the protagonists find themselves near Coria , as the action opens .