Roman camp and section of Roman road on Lofshaw Hill

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.

Despite some damage to the monument's defensive rampart by past ridge and furrow ploughing, the Roman camp and Roman road on Lofshaw Hill survives reasonably well. The camp is one of a group of sites in the immediate vicinity, the others being a fort and two further camps, each of which display marked differences in plan, numbers of gateways, size and subsequent troop disposition. The monument will contribute to any study of Roman military campaigning in northern England.

Details

The monument includes a Roman camp and a length of Roman road located on the southern slopes of Lofshaw Hill from where there are extensive views in all directions. The camp is sub-rectangular in plan with rounded corners and measures approximately 430m by 370m internally. It has defences consisting of a rampart and ditch strengthened at the north west corner by an additional outer mound and ditch, and has entrances on each of its four sides. The rampart stands up to 1m high in places and measures 3.6m - 4.5m wide; it is flanked by a ditch, now partly silted up, but still seen to be up to 4m wide by 0.3m deep. At the north west corner the camp's ditch has been cut into bedrock and the upcast has been used to create a small outer mound beyond which are faint traces of an outer ditch. The north and south entrances are both defended by internal and external claviculae: a clavicula is a curving continuation of the rampart and ditch which partially obstructs access through the gateway. The east and west entrances are both defended by external claviculae. The Roman road connecting Troutbeck Roman fort with the fort at Old Penrith, known to the Romans as Voreda, passes the camp's south side and can be seen as a raised agger or mound approximately 10m wide with faint traces of side ditches. It deviates around small quarry workings adjacent to the camp's south western corner and continues along lower ground to the west. The camp is thought to date to the late first century AD during the period when the Roman army was consolidating its position in northern England and in particular turning its attention to the policing of the Lake District and its indigenous population. All field boundaries are excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath them is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

23754

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Shotter, D C A, Roman North-West England in Roman North-West England, (1984)
Bellhouse, R L, Trans Cumb and West Antiq and Arch Soc. New Ser. in The Roman Temporary Camps Near Troutbeck, Cumberland, (1957), 28-36
Bellhouse, R L, Trans Cumb and West Antiq and Arch Soc. New Ser. in The Roman Temporary Camps Near Troutbeck, Cumberland, (1957), 28-36
Collingwood, R G, Trans Cumb & West Antiq & Arch Soc. New Ser. in The Hill Fort on Carrock Fell, Vol. XXXVIII, (1938), 32-41
St Joseph, J K, Journal of Roman Studies in Aerial Reconniassance in Britain, 1951-55, Vol. 45, (1955), 83-4

Other
RCHME, Roman Temporary Camps, Forthcoming

End of official list entry

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