Park House Roman fort

Summary

Park House Roman Fort.

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 of turf, puddled clay or earth with one or more outer ditches. Some forts had separately defended, subsidiary enclosures or annexes, allowing additional storage space or for the accommodation of 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. Some were only used for short periods of time but others were occupied for extended periods on a more or less permanent basis. In the earlier forts, timber was used for gateways, towers and breastworks. From the beginning of the second century AD there was a gradual replacement of timber with stone. Roman forts are rare nationally and are extremely rare south of the Severn Trent line. 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. All Roman forts with surviving archaeological potential are considered to be nationally important.

Park House Roman Fort is preserved as a low earthwork and in places as a cropmark. Partial excavation has revealed the monument to contain intact archaeological deposits including the surrounding ditch, remains of the rampart and timber-built buildings. The monument provides insight into Roman military strategy and is highly representative of its period.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 23 March 2016. This 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 the remains of a Roman fort situated immediately to the south of Park House Farm, on the top of a hill with views in all directions. The fort, which is preserved as a low earthwork, includes a sub-square enclosure with rounded corners measuring approximately 115m across surrounded by a rampart and ditch. Partial excavation confirmed the identification of the monument as a Roman fort, showing that it had a turf-built rampart with a 3m wide and 1.5m deep V-shaped outer ditch. The remains of an inter-vallum road bordered by the remains of wooden buildings with clay floors were also discovered.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

CU 281

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
PastScape Monument No:- 11338

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