South Shields Fort parade ground, Roman statue

HER Number:
906

District:
S Tyneside

Site Name:
South Shields Fort parade ground, Roman statue

Place:
South Shields

Map Sheet:
NZ36NE

Class:
Religion or Ritual

Site Type: Broad:
Religious Structural Object

Site Type: Specific:
Sculpture

General Period:
Roman

Specific Period:
C2/C3

Form of Evidence:
Find

Description:
In 1959 John Thornborrow excavated at the corner of Beacon Street and Lawe Road roundabout. The various finds, which appear to indicate the existence of a parade ground east of the fort, included part of a stone statue. This has been damaged - the head and body are separate, much of the right side of the torso, both arms, and the body below the waist are missing. The god appears to be wearing a cuirass, and baldric over his left shoulder. Though the detailing is Celtic, the location of the statue on the parade ground of the fort is said to suggest that it was Mars rather than a Celtic warrior god.

Easting:
365

Northing:
680

Grid Reference:
NZ365680

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 906 >> J.W. Thornborrow, 1959, Report on Excavations at Beacon Street, South Shields, South Shields Archaeological and Historical Society, Vol. I no. 7, p. 23 E.J. Phillips, 1977, Great Britain, Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani, Vol. I Fasc I no. 199, and plate 51 J.M.C. Toynbee, 1964, Art in Britain under the Romans, 107-8 A. Ross, 1967, Pagan Celtic Britain, 195-6