 The name is rather inappropriate for a relatively small fort, and one suggestion is that it could ultimately derive from the Celtic word "maen" meaning "stone" or "rock".Magnae was originally built to guard the junction of the Maiden Way with the Stanegate, the key supply route linking Coria (Corbridge) in the east to Luguvalium (Carlisle) in the west.As such it predates Hadrian's Wall.