The Excavations:
The barracks
Barracks were the sleeping quarters for the Roman army. The Romans had a standard shape for barracks. They were long, narrow buildings divided into small rooms.
How many barrack blocks were found at Castleford?
The archaeologists found only two barrack blocks, but large areas of the fort were not excavated. Few finds were recovered. The archaeologists used the layout of the buildings to interpret them as barrack blocks.
How many men slept in each barrack block?
Each barrack block was arranged in pairs of rooms called contubernia. Eight men shared each set of rooms. They slept in one room and kept their equipment in the other. The archaeologists were not able to excavate the whole building, but it is known from other sites that there were ten contubernia.
How many barrack blocks were needed at Castleford?
The Castleford fort was home to an auxiliary unit, made up mainly of infantry soldiers but with some cavalry as well, a total of about 600 men. This unit was called a cohors quingenaria equitata. Typically this size of army unit would need eight barrack blocks.