| Summary : Site of a Roman signal station, no visible remains. Excavation uncovered a rectangular fortlet, 65ft x 56ft defended by a stone wall 6ft thick. There were no traces of building foundations. Two ditches 8ft wide and 3ft deep, about 30ft apart, with the entrance on the west side, enclosed the fortlet. The only finds were pottery (Huntcliff ware) dated late 4th century AD. The site lies 2.2 km from another signal station at Wreay Hall (NY 44 NW 1) and both sites are intervisible. |
More information : [NY 4645 4688] Roman Signal Station [G.S.] (Site of) (1)
A Roman signal station, idenfified from A/P's, was excavated by R G Collingwood in September 1930. [See AO/63/223/4]. It is about 220yds east of the seventh milestone south of Carlisle along the Penrith road. The station consisted of a rectangular fortlet, 65ft x 56ft defended by a stone wall 6ft thick. There were no traces of building foundations. Two ditches 8ft wide and 3ft deep, about 30ft apart, with the entrance on the west side, enclosed the fortlet. The only finds were pottery (Huntcliff ware) dated late 4th century AD. (2-3)
No visible remains, the site falls in a featureless, pasture field. (4)
Green has suggested that this site is at first sight a good parallel for the earthwork at Apperley Dene (NZ 05 NE 5). His excavation of Apperley Dene, a suggested Roman fortlet showed it was initially a native site with no conclusive military use at a later date. He suggests that Barrock Fell may also be a native site. Farrar notes the superficially similar site at Apperley Dene but feels the situation and precision of plan favours Barrock Fell's identification as a signal station. Two site phases may exist since the square plan of the ditches does not conform with the oblong-walled enclosure. The pottery from the site has disappeared. The site lies 2.2 km from another signal station at Wreay Hall (NY 44 NW 1) and both sites are intervisible. (5-6)
This Roman Signal Station is visible as cropmarks on air photos taken on several different occassions. It comprises 2 near concentric enclosures. The outer enclosure is rectangular in plan, defined by a ditch, measures 44x41m internally and is cut by the modern field boundary. There is a gap in the western side which is probably an entrance and another on the eastern side (not opposite) that may be a simple hiatus in the cropmark. The middle enclosure is again ditch defined, it measures 22x22m internally and also has a gap suggesting a west-facing entrance, though this is not quite aligned with the outer one. The inner enclosure, visible as a parchmark on some photos is probably defined by buried wall material rather than a ditch, as indicated by Collingwood's excavations. However the inner enclosure appears to be square in plan and measures 12x12m internally and 16x16m externally) which does not quite correlate with Collinwood's description of ‘… a rectangular fort, 65 by 56 feet [20x15m] externally…’ . The air photographs also indicates a large rectilinear pit within the inner enclosure, though this may have been caused by Collingwood's investigations.
This feature is located 190m to the east of the Brougham to Carlisle Roman Road and is 525m to the south-east of the summit of Barrock Fell. (7) |