Summary
Part of Roman fort, Roman settlement and the medieval site of Rocester Abbey to the south and west of St Michael’s Church.
Reasons for Designation
Roman forts served as permanent bases for auxiliary units of the Roman Army. In outline they were straight sided rectangular enclosures with rounded corners, defined by a single rampart with one or more outer ditches. Some forts had separately defended, subsidiary enclosures or annexes, allowing additional storage space or accommodation for troops and convoys in transit. Although built and used throughout the Roman period, the majority of forts were constructed between the mid-first and mid-second centuries AD. As one of a small group of Roman military monuments, which are important in representing army strategy and therefore government policy, forts are of particular significance to our understanding of the period. Some small towns had their origins in earlier military sites and developed into independent urban areas following the abandonment of the forts. All Roman forts and small towns with surviving archaeological potential are considered to be nationally important.
From the time of St Augustine's mission to re-establish Christianity in AD 597 to the reign of Henry VIII, monasticism formed an important facet of both religious and secular life in the British Isles. Settlements of religious communities were built to house communities of monks, canons (priests), and sometimes lay-brothers, living a common life of religious observance under some form of systematic discipline. They belonged to a wide variety of different religious orders, each with its own philosophy. They vary considerably although all possess the basic elements of church, domestic accommodation for the community, and work buildings. They were established in all parts of England and many acted as the foci of wide networks including parish churches, almshouses, hospitals, farming estates and tenant villages. Some 225 of these religious houses belonged to the order of St Augustine. The Augustinians were not monks in the strict sense, but rather communities of canons - or priests - living under the rule of St Augustine. From the 12th century onwards, they undertook much valuable work in the parishes, running almshouses, schools and hospitals as well as maintaining and preaching in parish churches. It was from the churches that they derived much of their revenue. The Augustinians made a major contribution to many facets of medieval life and all of their monasteries which exhibit significant surviving archaeological remains are worthy of protection.
History
See Details.
Details
This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 25 June 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.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
ST 66
Legacy System:
RSM - OCN
Sources
Other
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
