Roman site NW of Brandon Villa

Summary

Roman camp 160m north west of Brandon Villa.

Reasons for Designation

Roman camps are rectangular or sub-rectangular enclosures which were constructed and used by Roman soldiers either when out on campaign or as practice camps and most campaign camps were only temporary overnight bases and few were used for longer periods. They were bounded by a single earthen rampart and outer ditch and in plan are always straight-sided with rounded corners. Normally they have between one and four entrances, although as many as eleven have been recorded. Such entrances were usually centrally placed in the sides of the camp and were often protected by additional defensive outworks. Roman camps are found throughout much of England, although most known examples lie in the midlands and north. Around 140 examples have been identified and, as one of the various types of defensive enclosure built by the Roman Army, particularly in hostile upland and frontier areas, they provide an important insight into Roman military strategy and organisation.

Despite road construction and past cultivation the Roman camp 160m north west of Brandon Villa survives comparatively well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, longevity, function, political, military and strategic significance and overall landscape context.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 27 May 2015. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes a Roman camp situated on the lower west facing slopes of a prominent hill overlooking a tributary to the River Teme. The camp survives as entirely buried structures, layers and deposits visible as crop or soil marks on aerial photographs. Three sides of a rectangular enclosure with rounded corners defined by a ditch are visible on the photographs and enclose an area of approximately 75m long by 60m wide. The camp is cut by a road on the eastern side. It was partially investigated by Stanford during road works and confirmed as a temporary Roman camp.

Further archaeological remains in the immediate vicinity are the subject of separate schedulings.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

HE 159

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
PastScape 106917, Herefordshire SMR 2519

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