Vindovala

Rudchester Fort was built under Hadrian and a cohors quingenaria equitata was stationed here. The fort suffered fire damage to the South Gate and nearby barracks in the late 2nd century. The West Gate and the Western Portal of the South Gate were also blocked around this time. The barracks were rebuilt, but abandoned before the end of the 3rd century and later reoccupied in the 4 th century. The Mithraeum at the fort seems to have been built in the 3 rd century and then deliberately destroyed in the fourth.

The fort is named Vindovala in the Ravenna cosmography, and Vindobala in the Notitia Dignitatum. A possible explanation for the fort’s name is put forward by Breeze as Vindo (meaning white) with Vala (meaning walls) after whitewashed or plastered walls of buildings in the fort. The Notitia Dignitatum also lists the unit stationed at Rudchester as the Cohors Prima Frixagorum (or Frisiavonum)

Sources:

The Roman Fort at Rudchester, Bowden M.C.B., and Blood K., 1991
Plastered Walls at Rudchester? The place names Vindovala and Nemetovala, Breeze A., 2002
Research on Hadrian’s Wall, Birley E., 1961