| Summary : Roman temporary camp visible as a cropmark. Parts of two sides and a curved angle of what appears to be a camp were revealed by aerial phoography in 1949 on the E bank of the River Petteril, about 140 m N of Galley Gill Bridge. These scant indications have since been supplemented by evidence from excavations in 1977 and 1979. The main Roman road from Carlisle (Luguvalium) to the fort at Old Penrith (Voreda), which is situated less than 500 m to the SSE of the camp, passes barely 150 m to the E, while Knowe Farm camp lies a little over 300 m to the NNW. The site chosen is the gently sloping SW-facing summit of a spur at about 122 m above OD, between the river and the Galley Gill. The promontary is protected by very steep slopes and there are good views all round, save to the NE. Immediately to the SE, the Galley Gill provides the only easy local access from the Roman Road to the river. The siting of the camp may, therefore, have been partly conditioned by the proximity of the river-crossing. The NE and NW sides form an acute angle, and the NW ditch is interrupted for about 10 m by a causeway, presumably for an entrance. A narrower gap in the NE ditch is less well defined; this may be merely the result of recent agricultural activity or of natural drainage erosion down the slope, but a gate farther to the SE and not less than 4 m wide was located in the excavations.Six post holes and five pits were identified during the limited excavations within the interior. The function and date of these are unclear, except for one pit, lined with basketwork and perhaps filled with grain, which was dated by radiocarbon to the 10th or 11th century AD. |
More information : (NY 491389) Roman camp visible on AP's but not on the ground. Scheduled. (1-3)
Agreed, no trace. (4)
An excavation trench was cut across the north east side of the camp and a V-shaped ditch 2.6m wide and about 1.0m deep was found. The bottom of the ditch contained large cobbles in silt; immediately above these were four black-burnished ware sherds. (5)
Following excavation in 1977 (see Authority 5), four further areas were excavated along the projected line of the north east side of the camp in 1979 (see illustration card, 2).
Area 2: The ditch was 2.10m to 2.20m wide at the lip, V-shaped in profile and 1.30m deep. (See illustration card 3, no.2)
Area 3: A mid 2nd century flagon sherd was found in the primary grey silt at the bottom of the ditch. Immediately inside the ditch 5 stakeholes were irregularly spaced along the lip, possibly indicating a light fence. Five shallow pits were found within the enclosure. A flat-bottomed circular pit with traces of a clay lining to which pieces of wickerwork adhered was also found. (See illustration card 4) The lower fill of this pit contained loose carbonized grains, mainly of oats, and cakes of flax. It may represent a grain store, but interpretation remains tentative. Carbon 14 analysis of samples of flax and wood from the lining provided a probable 10th or 11th century date for the pit.
Areas 4 and 5: The fill of the ditch in area 4 was not excavated. In area 5 the ditch was similar in character to the section excavated in area 3, except small amounts of charcoal and burnt wood fragments were found in the bottom fill. A remnant of a clay 'rampart' was preserved in situ on the inner lip of the ditch. (See illustration card 3 no.3)
Very little pottery was found during excavations, the total weight of Roman sherds amounting to only 383 grams. (6)
(NY 491389) Roman Camp near Galley Gill Bridge, scheduled. (7)
This camp has been re-assessed in connection with RCHME's survey and publication of Roman Camps in England. The following descriptive account is taken from the published text.
Parts of two sides and a curved angle of what appears to be a camp were revealed by aerial phoography in 1949 on the E bank of the River Petteril, about 140 m N of Galley Gill Bridge (St Joseph 1951, 54 (8a); CUCAP DM 60 (8b); DO 53 (8c)). These scant indications have since been supplemented by evidence from excavations in 1977 and 1979 (Poulter 1982 (see Auth 6)). The main Roman road from Carlisle (Luguvalium) to the fort at Old Penrith (Voreda), which is situated less than 500 m to the SSE of the camp, passes barely 150 m to the E, while Knowe Farm camp lies a little over 300 m to the NNW.
The site chosen is the gently sloping SW-facing summit of a spur at about 122 m above OD, between the river and the Galley Gill. The promontary is protected by very steep slopes and there are good views all round, save to the NE. Immediately to the SE, the Galley Gill provides the only easy local access from the Roman Road to the river. The siting of the camp may, therefore, have been partly conditioned by the proximity of the river-crossing.
The NE and NW sides form an acute angle, and the NW ditch is interrupted for about 10 m by a causeway, presumably for an entrance. A narrower gap in the NE ditch is less well defined; this may be merely the result of recent agricultural activity or of natural drainage erosion down the slope, but a gate farther to the SE and not less than 4 m wide was located in the excavations (a on Fig 24).
Other trenches to the SE suggest that the NE side continued for at least 70 m beyond the visible cropmark to a point not more than 20 m from the edge of the scarp of Galley Gill. If, as seems likely, the camp ditch turned near this scarp edge, then the excavate gate would have occupied roughly central position in the NE side. If more or less entral entrances may be assumed in both sides of the camp its dimensions would have been about 160 m from NW to SE by 100 m traversely and its area approximately 1.6 ha (3.9 acres). It is conceivable, however, that the natural defences of the spur were directly utilised, thus giving the camp a larger area and different proportions.
The excavated ditch was V-shaped, up to 2.2 m wide and at least 1.3 m deep; it had remained open for a short period before being back- filled. There was evidence that the rampart of clay, stones, rubble and turves had been fronted with a fence of stakes positioned immediately on the inner lip of the ditch; there was no berm apparent. Pottery from the primary silt, originally thought to date to the 2nd century only (Poulter 1982, fig 6, no. 5 (see Auth 6)), could well be Flavian or Trajanic in the light of material from recent excavations at Old Penrith (Austen 1991, 156-8 (8d)). Later pottery from the Galley Gill excavations may derive from activities centred on the vicus, of which cropmarks of tracks and enclosures can be seen NE and E of the fort.
Six post holes and five pits were identified during the limited excavations within the interior. The function and date of these are unclear, except for one pit, lined with basketwork and perhaps filled with grain, which was dated by radiocarbon to the 10th or 11th century AD. Full information is included in the NMR Archive. (8)
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