Pons Aelius Roman Fort, market

The fort was possibly used as a market between 270 and 360 AD. This appears to have been incorporated into the architecture of the interior, with the space between the northern barracks and workshop and the granaries being occupied by a broad street or open space. This may have originally occurred because planned buildings were not constructed in the northern part of the fort and the resulting space was metalled and used as an assembly area for the cohort. This later became a public space. Small-change coinage, the main evidence for commercial activity, is absent from this space but is concentrated to the north and south and within the narrow lane between the principia and praetorium. Bidwell suggests that the market was located here because it was on the north-south road. Heslop adds that it was close to the Tyne crossing.