More information : (Centred SE 406664) Aldborough (NAT) Isvrivm Roman Town (R) (1)
Aldborough Roman town, the civitas capital of Isurium Brigantum, as recorded in the Antonine Itinerary, encloses an almost rectangular area of 55 acres (2) (4). Excavations were undertaken in 1924, 1934-5 and 1937-8 (5) and sporadically between 1961 and 1968 (6) (see also JRS 51 1961 p 69; 55 1965 p.204; 56 1966, 200; 58 1968 p180 - excavation reports). A Roman fort and attached vicus supposedly preceded the establishment of the civitas, but no structural evidence of the fort has been found. The vicus, however, was probably represented by substantial late 1st century buildings exposed near the site of the presumed east
gate of the town. The first defences of the town comprised a bank, not exceeding 15ft. wide fronted by a flat-bottomed ditch, 5-6 ft. deep, from which dateable material was mainly mid-late 2nd century. The sandstone defences, 10ft. thick at base, which replaced the earlier circuit, cannot be earlier than the mid-3rd century. A stretch of wall between the south-west corner and south gate still survives; the rear face strengthened by a heightened rampart and another, smaller ditch seems to have been dug beyond the existing ditch. Internal towers were probably an integral part of this work; two are known near the south gate.
In the second half of the 4th century the defences were reorganised and external segmental bastions with rectangular internal towers of millstone grit were added to the wall. The inner ditch was filled only where the bastions stood, and a new ditch, 40ft. wide, was dug further out from the town wall. Repairs to the wall were also carried out in places. The standard of the new houses located within the town give the impression of a well-appointed town which, on numismatic evidence, gradually declined in the late 4th century (2-4). A 7th century Anglian burial with girdle-hangers and a small thread-box of bronze, plainly a woman's grave, and two Viking carved bone objects are the only post-Roman finds (3, 4). Many of the finds from the excavations are in Aldborough Museum. Plan (2). (2-6)
Earthworks re-surveyed at 1:2500: see ground photographs of
tesselated pavements. (7)
The faint parch marks of extensive walls of possible buildings and enclosures were seen on aerial photographs centred at SE 4067 6659 in fields immediately to the north of the town. The course of Dere Street runs through the centre of these features and it is possible that they represent a further part of the vicus of the Roman town. At least one of the linear boundaries were former field boundaries marked on the first edition OS map, but may be a fossilised earlier boundary. (8-9)
Additional source reporting on findings from a watching brief. (10)
A catalogue of small finds from the site has been published. (11)
Details of conservation of one of the moasics from the site. (12)
In 2010 an air photographic analysis and mapping project was undertaken by English Heritage Aerial Survey and Investigation Team, looking at the enclosed town and the immediate environs.Analysis allowed identification of elements of the intramural street layout and portions of the defensive circuit, defined by a bank and ditch. Areas surrounding thevillage yielded evidence of extramural activity potentially associated with the town. Crop and parch parks revealed portions of an Iron Age/Roman rectilinear field system to the south, as well as a large curvilinear enclosure that appears to abut the northern circuit of the town defences. Potential kilns were also identified to the east. (13)
Some elements of the town are visible as parchmarks cropmarks and earthworks on air photos and lidar-derived images. Several sections of town wall and associated defences are visible. Working clockwise from the site of the west gate, a broad 190m section of wall heads near northward and terminates with a bastion at SE4052 6671. The western section of the northern side has been masked or destroyed my medieval ploughing (see UID 1537428). The northern side is visible eastward from the probable site of the northern gate. The wall then takes a broad bend to the south towards Aldborough Hall. From there it is again concealed or levelled. To the immediate south of the road that leads into Aldborough village from the east there is a small scarp slope and a pair of parallel ditches these may be associated with the bastion identified by Wacher in this location (see source 2 below). Finally the south-eastern corner of the Roman town wall is visible as a substantial earthwork. Other sections of the wall are masked or concealed by elements of the modern landscape. Similarly much of the interior is concealed but elements of the street plan and some walls and buildingsare revealed by parchmarks in the northern area of the town around SE4064 6661. The air photographs have also revealed several features outwith the town wall including a section of Dere Street running northward (see UID 1537418) and an area of possible extra-mural settlement (now recorded in UID 1537424) (14-16)
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