Roman camp, 1.05km north of Featherwood

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; 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. All well-preserved examples are identified as being of national importance.

The Roman temporary camp north of Featherwood survives in an excellent state of preservation and is a good example of its type. It is one of a group of camps constructed along Dere Street, one of the principal routes northwards, and contributes to our understanding of the Roman occupation of northern Britain.

Details

The monument includes a Roman temporary camp situated on a gently sloping south-facing slope. It lies immediately west of Dere Street, the Roman road from Corbridge to Newstead in Scotland. The camp is irregular in shape, being almost trapezoidal in plan with the usual rounded corners. It has maximum dimensions of 488m north-south by 366m east to west within a substantial rampart 7m wide in places and up to 0.8m in height. Outside the rampart there is an intermittent ditch, a maximum of 4m across and varying between 0.2 and 0.5m deep. There are five gateways into the camp, one in each side and an additional one in the western side. The gateways on the western side of the camp are protected by detached lengths of rampart and ditch known as traverses, placed across them at a distance of 10m from the entrance and blocking the direct lines of access into the camp. There are also traces of a traverse on the northern side but those which would have existed on the other gateways have been levelled. The camp dates from the Roman occupation of Britain in the first century AD. It is large enough to have been used periodically on a temporary basis by soldiers advancing northwards and may also have been used by smaller groups engaged in routine maintenance.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

20918

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Richmond, I A, Northumberland County History xv in The Romans in Redesdale, (1940)

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