| Summary : The site of a Roman Small Town and/or fort. At Leintwardine village the course of the rampart round the northern two-thirds of the Roman fort is quite clearly marked by earthworks. Excavations at five sites between 1958 and 1967 resulted in four periods being recognised. Period I is associated with a vicus, developed along the High Street in the late 1st or early 2nd century. Periods II - IV belong to a large fort that was protected by the visible timber-laced rampart. Period II begins after c AD 160, period III in the early 3rd century, and Period IV in the 4th century. There is some evidence that the fort was eventually burnt. Excavation in 1971 yielded a partial section of the east defences. The timber-laced clay rampart, at least 8 metres wide, overlay an earlier ditch. The rampart was subsequently enlarged to a width of at least 15 metres covering the original intervallum-street and a well or cess pit beyond. Pits and post-holes in the interior yielded no intelligible plan. A very large amount of pottery was found, many sherds were samian. The site may have been a defended settlement, or a site which changed its status with the pacification of Wales. The apparent absence of fixtures which should be present within the central area of a Roman fort raises the question of whether the settlement was a defended civilian site rather than a fort. |
More information : (SO 404741) Bravonium Roman Settlement (R). (1)
The Name Various MSS of the Antonine Itinerary have Bravonium, Bravinium and Branonium, putting it 24 miles from Magnis and 27 from Viroconium; Parthey and Pinder take Bravonium as the best reading, followed by OS RB 2nd edn and Richmond & Crawford. Holder identified it with the Branogenium of the Ravenna Cosmography and the Brannogenium of Ptolemy ("city of the Ordovices")
Richmond & Crawford place Branogenium between Magna and Viroconium but say its identification with Bravonium is "very doubtful. There is plenty of room for another site on the road." Their reasoning in placing Branogenium near here is open to question: Ptolemy's co-ordinates (which are not always related to his coastline) put it NW of Viroconium in North Wales. (2)
At Leintwardine village the course of the rampart round the northern two-thirds of the Roman fort is quite clearly marked by earthworks. Excavations at five sites (see plan) between 1958 and 1967 have resulted in four periods of work being recognised. Period I is associated with a vicus, developed along the High Street in the late 1st or E 2nd c. Periods II - IV belong to a large fort that was protected by the visible timber-laced rampart. Period II begins after c AD 160, period III in the E 3rd c, and period IV in the 4th c. There is some evidence from site B that the fort was eventually burnt. (From the context, no special significance is attributed to Stamford's use of the term "vicus", which is used simply to describe the settlement that developed along the road in Phase I). (3)
Stretches of the rampart on the N and W sides remain visible within rear gardens and paddocks. On average, it is 30.0m in width, 1.0m in height, though N of Seedley House, it exceeds 2.0m on the exterior. Published 1:2500 survey revised. (4)
Excavation in the garden of 'Quantocks', High St in 1971, yielded a partial section of the east defences. The timber-laced clay rampart, at least 8m wide, overlay an earlier ditch estimated to run NE to SW. The rampart was subsequently enlarged to a width of at least 15m covering the original intervallum-street, 3.5m wide, and a well or cess pit beyond. A layer of planks was found on top of the surviving portion of the rampart, at a height of 1.30m, but in a rampart of this size the actual rampart walk would have been at a very much higher level. Pits and post-holes in the interior yielded no intelligible plan. A very large amount of pottery was found, many sherds were samian. Excavated by Erskine on behalf of the DOE. (5-6)
Webster says that the status of Leintwardine is not clear; its area of 14 acres is too large for a fort, and it may have been a defended settlement, or a site which changed its status with the pacification of Wales. (7)
Name 'BRAVONIVM' accepted for 4th. edition R.B.Map.
Change of scheduled name to 'Roman Station of Bravinium' (sic) and further scheduling of areas within the defences. See plan of scheduled area. (8)
The explanation for the three ditches outside the north-west corner of the fort suggested in 1968 (3) has been refuted by observations made at the south-west corner in 1976. Here a sewer trench cut two ditches, of which only the inner one can be contemporary with the fort during the 2nd, 3rd and 4th centuries. The outer ditch at the south-west corner, the equivalent of the middle ditch at the north-west corner, was probably cut in the 4th century. The outer-most ditch may have been a special provision for the north of the fort or may be connected with it, having some other pre-Roman or post-Roman function, despite its cleaning slot. (9)
BRANOGENIUM. Roman settlement at Leintwardine. (10)
Excavations in 1980 at the rear of 22 High Street failed to discover the line of the via principalis. The southern part of the site revealed a timber building and several pits. The pottery sequence dated from the mid 2nd to early 4th century. The northern area contained Roman pits. The apparent absence of fixtures which should be present within the central area of a Roman fort raises the question of whether the settlement was a defended civilian site rather than a fort. (11)
Additional reference. (12)
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