| Summary : Cropmark of a Roman temporary camp. Three camps, about 1 km WSW of the Roman fort at Kirkby Thore (Bravoniacum), were visible as cropmarks in the summers of 1978 and 1984. They are situated on a gentle ENE -facing slope, at about 105 m to 110 m above OD, on the N bank of the River Eden, near a point where the river is fordable. There are extensive views in every direction and the main Roman road from York (Eburacum) to Carlisle (Luguvalium) is clearly visable 5oo m to the N. With the exception of its NE side, most of the perimeter of camp 1 is known. It is not quite rectangular and measures about 198 m from NNW to SSE, by at least 245 m transversely. The S and W angles are slightly over and a little less than ninety degrees respectively, and the overall area is at least 4.8 ha (almost 12 acres). One probable entrance has been identified just N of the central point of the SW side. It appears to have been defended by a traverse, though the crop indications are not entirely clear. The location of this gate could have been one factor governing the size and shape of camp 2 which occupies the SW corner of camp 1 and shares parts of its SW and SE sides. Camp 2 measures approximately 158 m by 110 m and encloses about 1.7 ha (4.3 acres). The radius of the N angle appears unusually small and there are single central gates in the NE and SW sides. The orientations of camps 1 and 2 seem to have been conditioned by the topography. |
More information : 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.
NY 62622516. Cropmarks of a temporary camp within, and previously recorded with, NY 62 NW 27. Seperate identity now assigned.
Three camps, about 1 km WSW of the Roman fort at Kirkby Thore (Bravoniacum), were visible as cropmarks in the summers of 1978 (Britannia 10 (1979), 283 (1a); NMR AP NY 6225/3-6 (1b)) and 1984 (NMR AP NY 6225/2/151-3 (1b)). They are situated on a gentle ENE -facing slope, at about 105 m to 110 m above OD, on the N bank of the River Eden, near a point where the river is fordable. There are extensive views in every direction and the main Roman road from York (Eburacum) to Carlisle (Luguvalium) is clearly visable 5oo m to the N.
With the exception of its NE side, most of the perimeter of camp 1 is known. It is not quite rectangular and measures about 198 m from NNW to SSE, by at least 245 m transversely. The S and W angles are slightly over and a little less than ninety degrees respectively, and the overall area is at least 4.8 ha (almost 12 acres). One probable entrance has been identified just N of the central point of the SW side. It appears to have been defended by a traverse, though the crop indications are not entirely clear.
The location of this gate could have been one factor governing the size and shape of camp 2 which occupies the SW corner of camp 1 and shares parts of its SW and SE sides. Camp 2 measures approximately 158 m by 110 m and encloses about 1.7 ha (4.3 acres). The radius of the N angle appears unusually small and there are single central gates in the NE and SW sides.
The orientations of camps 1 and 2 seem to have been conditioned by the topography. The SW ditch, shared by both enclosures, is aligned on a local crest from which it is set back slightly, and the NE side of camp 2 coincides with a very slight rise. Although the precise position of the NE ditch of camp 1 cannot now be traced, it may not have lain much farther E than the recorde cropmarks. Its disappearance may be partly a result of erosion from a former channel of the River Eden, a portion of which survives as a gully, and which is still marked by the present parish boundary. If the line of this boundary E and S of camps 1 and 2 represents the course of the Eden in the Roman period, they must have been sited deliberately within a marked bend. Full information is included in the NMR Archive. (1)
|