Mamucium Mamucium , also known as Mancunium , was a fort in the Roman province of Britannia . The remains of the fort are protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument , and are located within the Castlefield area of the City of Manchester , in North West England ( ) . Founded c . AD 79 , Mamucium was garrisoned by a cohort of auxiliary soldiers and guarded the road running from Chester to York . A " vicus " , or civilian settlement made up of traders and the families of the soldiers , grew outside the fort and was an area of industrial activity . The site lay in ruins until the Industrial Revolution . During this period Manchester expanded and the fort was levelled to make way for new developments . It was damaged by the construction of the Rochdale Canal and the Great Northern Railway . The site is now part of the regenerated area of warehousing alongside the Rochdale Canal , part of the Castlefield Urban Heritage Park . Reconstructed remains of the fort ' s gatehouse , granaries , and some buildings from the " vicus " are on display to the public . Location . When the Roman fort in Castlefield was built , it was located on a naturally defensible sandstone bluff , guarding a nearby crossing over the River Medlock . The fort was situated near a junction between at least two Roman road s . It guarded the road between the legionary fortresses of Deva Victrix ( Chester ) and Eboracum ( York ) running east to west , as well as the road between Manchester and Bremetennacum ( Ribchester ) to the north . In addition , Mamucium may also have overlooked a lesser road running north west to Coccium ( Wigan ) . The fort was one of a chain of fortifications along the Eboracum to Deva Victrix road , with Castleshaw Roman fort lying to the east , and Condate ( Northwich ) to the west . Stamps on tegulae indicate that Mamucium had administrative links not only with Castleshaw , the nearest fort , but also those at Slack and Ebchester ; all the forts probably got the tegulae from the same place in Grimescar Wood near Huddersfield . The area around the fort changed greatly in the centuries that followed ; the remains are now surrounded by mills built during Industrial Revolution and were further damaged by the subsequent urbanisation of Manchester . Castlefield is located on the south west corner of Manchester city centre and the Rochdale Canal cuts through the southern corner of the fort . Deansgate , which has developed into a busy thoroughfare , passes close to the east of the fort and follows the general line of Roman road to Ribchester and Castlefield . History . Although there is no evidence of prehistoric settlement , there is evidence of activity in the area . A Neolithic scraper , two Mesolithic flints and a flint flake have been discovered , as well as a shard of late Bronze Age pottery ; however these were mostly not found in situ . Although the area was in the territory of the Celtic tribe Brigantes until the Romans annexed the area , it may have been under the control of the Setantii , a sub - tribe of the Brigantes . The fort was built around 79 AD ; it was built as part of the fortifications erected under Gnaeus Julius Agricola during his campaigns against the Brigantes after the treaty with them failed . The name Mamucium is thought to derive from the Celtic meaning " breast shaped hill " , referring to the sandstone bluff the fort stood on ; this later evolved into the name Manchester . The Welsh word for Manchester is " Manceinion " which sounds very similar to Mamucium and has been passed on from the Brythonic language . Excavations have demonstrated that the fort had three main phases of construction ; one in 79 AD , the second in 160 AD , and the third in 200 AD . The first phase of the fort was built from turf and timber . Mamucium was designed to be garrisoned by a cohort , about 500 infantry . They would have been drawn from an auxiliary , the non - citizen soldiers of the Roman army . A civilian settlement called a " vicus " grew around the fort in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries . Around 90 AD , the rampart s surrounding the fort were strengthened . Manchester and the Roman fort at Slack – which neighboured Castleshaw – superseded the fort at Castleshaw in the 120s . Mamucium was demolished some time around 140 AD . Although the " vicus " grew rapidly in the early 2nd century , it was abandoned some time between 120 and 160 – broadly coinciding with the demolition of the fort – before it was re - inhabited when the fort was rebuilt . There is a possible temple to Mithras associated with the civilian settlement , in modern day Hulme . An altar dedicated to " Fortune the Preserver " was found , probably dating to the early 3rd century . In 2008 an altar dating from the late 1st century was discovered near the Roman settlement . It was dedicated to two minor Germanic gods and described as being in " fantastic " condition . The County Archaeologist said As well as Pagan worship , there is also evidence of early Christian worship . In the 1970s a 2nd - century " word square " was discovered with an anagram of PATER NOSTER . There has been discussion by academics whether the " word square " , which is carved on a piece of amphora , is actually a Christian artefact , if so , it is one of the earliest examples of Christianity in Britain . The second phase was built around 160 AD . Although it was again of turf and timber construction , it was larger than the previous fort , measuring to accommodate extra granaries ( " horrea " ) . Around 200 AD , the gatehouses of the fort were rebuilt in stone and the walls surrounding the fort were given a stone facing . The concentration of furnaces in sheds in part of the " vicus " associated with the fort has been described as an " industrial estate " , which would have been the first in Manchester . Mamucium was included in the Antonine Itinerary , a 3rd - century register of roads throughout the Roman Empire . This and inscriptions on and repairs to buildings indicate that Mamucium was still in use in the first half of the 3rd century . The " vicus " may have been abandoned by the mid 3rd century ; this is supported by the excavated remains of some buildings that were demolished and the materials robbed for use elsewhere . Evidence from coins indicates that although the civilian settlement associated with the fort had declined by the mid 3rd century , a small garrison may have remained at Mamucium into the late 3rd century and early 4th century . Post - Roman . During the medieval period , the area was used for agricultural purposes . After lying derelict for centuries , the ruins were commented on by antiquarian s John Leland in the 16th century , William Camden in the late 16th and early 17th centuries , and William Stukeley and the Manchester historian , John Whitaker in the 18th century . In the early 18th century , John Horsley said : The name " Tarquin ' s Castle " refers to the legend that the fort had been occupied by a giant named Tarquin . Whitaker described what remained of the fort in 1773 : Mamucium was levelled as Manchester expanded during the Industrial Revolution . The construction of the Rochdale Canal through the south western corner of the fort in the late 18th and early 19th centuries , and the building of viaducts for the Great Northern Railway over the site in the late 19th century , damaged the remains and even destroyed some of the southern half of the fort . When the railway viaducts were built , Charles Roeder documented the remains that were uncovered in the process , including parts of the " vicus " . The first archaeological investigation of Mamucium was in 1906 . Francis Bruton , who would later work on the Roman fort at Castleshaw , excavated the fort ' s western defences . A series of small scale excavations were undertaken intermittently between 1912 and 1967 , generally exploring the northern defences of the fort . In the mid - 20th century , historian A . J . P . Taylor called the surviving stretch of Roman wall " the least interesting Roman remains in Britain " . The first excavation of the " vicus " was carried out in the 1970s under Professor Barri Jones . In 1982 the fort , along with the rest of the Castlefield area , became the United Kingdom ' s first Urban Heritage Park , and partial reconstructions of the forts walls , including the ramparts and gateways , were opened in 1984 . In 2001 – 2005 the University of Manchester Archaeological Unit carried out excavations in the " vicus " to further investigate the site before the area underwent any more regeneration or reconstruction . The archaeological investigation of Mamucium Roman fort and its associated civilian settlement has , so far , provided approximately 10 , 000 artefacts . Layout . The fort measured by and was surrounded by a double ditch and wooden rampart . Around AD 200 the wooden rampart was replaced by stone ramparts , measuring between and thick . The " vicus " associated with Mamucium surrounded the site on the west , north , and east sides , with the majority lying to the north . The " vicus " covered about and the fort about . Buildings within the " vicus " would have generally been one storey , timber framed , and of wattle and daub construction . There may have been a cemetery to the south east of the fort .