More information : Roman signal station of Gask Ridge type. It lies beside the road 7 miles beyond Brough and 1 1/2 miles SE of Appleby. (1)
Sited to NY 716193. (2)
Circular signal-station at Brackenrigg (Brackenber) north-east (sic) of Appleby and north of the Roman road of which the clear intention is to by-pass the long and undulating hog-back chosen for the Roman road line between Julian's Bower and Castrigg, and to signal through a natural gap by its side on the direct line between Castrigg and Brough. It is comparable in plan to the Vale House station (NY 91 SW 6). (3)
Nothing found on the ground in the vicinity of NY 716193. (4)
NY 708198. The site of a probable Roman signal station was rediscovered on Appleby Golf Course. (5)
The site lies at the edge of the Appleby golf-course, 4.2 km south-east of Castrigg and 0.5 km from the Roman road. In shape and size it closely resembles stations of Gask Ridge type, especially if its southern gap should prove to be a subsequent breach in the encircling bank rather than a true causeway across the ditch. The interior, little if at all raised above natural ground level is uneven and irregularly hollowed in the centre, but its diameter of 13m is quite adequate for a timber tower and fuel stores. The site lies on nearly the lowest ground in the vicinity, close to the river beside old hollow-ways. If this was a signal-tower, its situation must be without parallel. Ring-ditches are not peculiarly Roman and the site can hardly be attributed to that period without confirmation of some kind. The nature of the tiny but distinct bath-shaped enclosure of low relief next to the ring is unknown. (6)
The site is noted in brief by Tom Clare in his 2007 publication 'Prehistoric Monuments of the Lake District'. He describes the site as a circular ditched earthwork at Appleby Golf Course, seen on aerial photography held at Cumbria HER. He offers an alternative interpretation of the site (traditionally thought to be a Roman signal station) as perhaps being a small prehistoric henge or hengiform structure, with a smaller subrectangular earthwork with rounded ends situated immediately to its east. He also notes that local Yeomanry were known to have erected bell tents in the Brackenber Moor area around 1900. (7)
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