Binchester (Vinovium) Roman Bath House 2021

Sitting atop a hill 49 ft above the Wear near Bishop Auckland, the fort of Vinovium, the largest Roman fort in County Durham, was probably established around AD 79 to guard the crossing of the Roman Road of Dere St. over the River Wear The road was to become the fort's via principalis through the center of the fort.
Four coins of Vespasian indicate that the initial building phase was related to Agricola's push into the territory of the Brigantes. it may have been men from the Legio VI Victrix who built the original fort.
Two phases of timber structures, most likely barrack blocks, were constructed atop the original levelling of the land deposit. Much later these buildings inside the fort were levelled and reconstructed in stone. These included a commandant's house at the heart of the fort and a well-appointed baths building
The cuneus Frisorum Vinoviensium and the equites catafractariorum have been mentioned in inscriptions from the site. The cavalry units of the ala Vettonum, a cohort of Frisian soldiers, and part of the Sixth Legion might also have stayed here at some point in its history.
An extensive civilian settlement (vicus) existed to the north and west of the fort, the remains of which are buried under the pastures of Binchester Hall Farm. The southern part of the fort is now beneath Binchester Hall, while some of the defences were destroyed in a landslip in the 19th century. Part of the stone bridge on which Dere Street crossed the River Wear can still be seen when the river is low. In 2007, several mausolea were found to the north of the vicus.
Later history
In 1552, John Leland wrote that Roman coins had been uncovered in nearby ploughed fields, while William Camden, in 1586, mentioned the remains of some walls could still then be seen.
A bath-house was found in 1815 when a farm cart accidentally fell into part of a hypocaust.
The ruins did not fare well under the early 19th-century occupants of Binchester Hall and in 1828, "altars, urns, and other relics" were robbed out and taken away to be used as props inside coal pits in the area.