More information : A 'vicus' settlement occurs south and west of the Roman fort at Newton Kyme (SE 44 NE 6) and possibly inside the fort. The 'vicus' outside the fort covers an extensive area (15 hectares) and is focused around a system of roads and trackways. A main north-south road forms a branch from Rudgate (LIN 247: RR280) to the fort, visible as a cropmark, defined by two ditches (12.5m-19m apart), between SE 4564 4523 & SE 4567 4469. It has several narrower (4m-7.5m wide) east-west branches (SE 4555 4520, SE 4559 4501, SE 4574 4495) and one to the east of the 'vicus' (SE 4583 4485 to SE 4616 4488), running south of the henge (SE 44 NE 21), may also be part of this system of trackways. A second broad feature (25m wide) aligned NW-SE (SE 4550 4535 to 4582 4487), defined by a discontinuous ditch and by a concentration of pits in places, may be a road/droveway. It has several circular enclosures aligned along it, interpreted as Roman burials (SE 44 NE 25). Flanking the north-south road are numerous rectangular buildings, with their long axis perpendicular to the road, some with internal partitions (SE 4563 4489). Square and rectangular ditched enclosures also flank the road and trackways, some overlap, suggesting a number of phases of settlement. These enclosures are particularly well defined down the eastern side of the N-S road, forming a discrete block centred at SE 4570 4500 and two parallel rows centred at SE 4571 4476.
Enclosures to the west and directly south of the fort, particularly a double ditched enclosure at SE 4550 4526, are overlain by the fort defences, which suggests this part of the 'vicus' predates the large fort.
Within the fort the main north-south road is flanked by rectangular buildings. The alignment of the road (SE 4563 4528) and the orientation of the buildings (SE 4565 4529) at the southern end of the fort are similar to those vicus buildings outside the fort (SE 44 NE 32) and may be contemporary, predating the construction of the large fort. The buildings at the northern end of the fort (SE 4566 4544) may be military, associated with the fort or 'vicus' civilian settlement within the fort. (1)
The site of the vicus falls within the projet area for the Vale of York Project and was transcribed at a scale of 1:10,000, based on the 1:2,500. No new features were noted on recent photographs taken since the 1995 air survey.
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