The Valetudinarium (Hospital)

The Hospital, another courtyard building, sat immediately behind the Principia with its entrance to the west. Although the northern half of the building is badly preserved, it is clear that the courtyard was flanked by colonnaded verandahs. There was a large room to the north, which could have served as a surgery, and smaller rooms along the other three sides. There was a latrine in the southwest corner.

Although there is nothing at Housesteads or at Wallsend, where a virtually identical building has survived, to prove that it was a hospital, we know from a tombstone that there was a medical orderly (medicus) at the fort. The orderly layout and the concern for sanitary facilities make it unlikely that the building was a workshop or storehouse. Besides, there are other buildings at Housesteads (Buildings IV and XV) that better suit these functions. Since we know from other sources that hospitals could generally be found at Roman forts of the period, that interpretation seems most likely.