| Summary : Site of a Roman temporary camp surviving as an earthwork. A small fort, and three camps that are exceptional in having all their gates defended by claviculae, form a group of earthworks that survive to the N and to the NW of the hamlet of Troutbeck, 15 km to the W of the fort at Brougham (Brocavum). Camp 3, the smallest of the group, was constructed on the domed summit of the spur at 279 m above OD, immediately to the NE of the fort, which occupies the forward end of the spur above the steeper slopes to the S and W. Before the discovery of the fort, the camp was variously classified as a fort and a fortlet, probably on the basis that it has an additional outer mound at camp 2 there seems no reason to suggest that this much smaller site is not also a camp. Enclosing an area of about 0.6 ha (1.6 acres), it is not quite square but was laid out as a parallelogram, measuring about 105 m across overall. Where best preserved, the scarps of the inner rampart stand 1.0 m high externally and 0.3 m high internally; the outer mound is up to 0.3 m high. There are two gates on the S and on the W, each defended, as at camp 2, by double claviculae. The internal mound on the S has been reduced by ploughing and the external mound on the W is cut by a modern drain. The site is crossed by ridge-and-furrow, aligned from NNE to SSW, but the earthworks remain distinct, except on the W side where the ditch between the ramparts is reduced to little more than a vegetation mark. The Roman road from the E, aligned on the E gateway of the fort, passes the S side of the camp, where there is a junction with the Roman road that takes a more awkward route to the N of the fort and then westwards across camp 1. The latter course presumably postdates both the fort and the camp. |
More information : (NY 38402726) Small Roman camp of 1.6 acres, clearly visible with two gates in the S and W sides having internal and external claviculae. A trench cut across the S side in October, 1955, showed the ditch to be 9 ft wide and 4 ft 6 ins deep and the rampart to be of little more than 2 ft in height. No dating evidence was found. Plan. (1)
Surveyed at 1:2500; qv RR 741, AM No NY 3827. (2)
Frere and St Joseph suggest this could be a fortlet as the rampart seems rather substantial and the location of the gates implies a close concern with traffic on the road nearby (RR 741). However the plan of the gates is more typical of a temporary camp and it may be that the earthwork is a construction camp for the fort nearby (NY 32 NE 5). (3)
This camp has been re-assessed in connection with RCHME's survey and publication of Roman Camps in England. The following descriptive account is taken from the published text.
A small fort, and three camps that are exceptional in having all their gates defended by claviculae, form a group of earthworks that survive to the N and to the NW of the hamlet of Troutbeck, 15 km to the W of the fort at Brougham (Brocavum). The position chosen is of strategic importance since it controls one of the principal natural routeways into the uplands of the Lake District from the broad lowlands of the River Eden. A Roman road, leading south-westwards to Troutbeck from the fort at Old Penrith (Voreda), probably continued to near Keswick (Bellhouse 1954 (4a); Allan and Richardson 1978 (4b) and 1980 (4c)).
The four sites make the most of what level ground there is in this undulating landscape and occupy the gentle S slope of Lofshaw Hill and its SW spur; these lie between the Naddles Beck and the Trout Beck, two tributaries of the River Glenderamackin which drains westwards, around the S side of the massif of Blencathra and Skiddaw to the foot of Derwent Water. The exact date and relative chronology of the four sites is not known, but the similarity of plan of both the fort and camp 2 at Troutbeck with their counterparts at Oakwood, in Ettrick and Lauderdale, which are Flavian in date (Steer and Feachem 1954 (4d)), may be significant. The numbering of the camps follows that of Lenoir (1977) (4e).
Camp 3, the smallest of the group, was constructed on the domed summit of the spur at 279 m above OD, immediately to the NE of the fort, which occupies the forward end of the spur above the steeper slopes to the S and W. Before the discovery of the fort (Britannia 5 (1974, 413 (4f)), the camp was variously classified as a fort and a fortlet, probably on the basis that it has an additional outer mound at camp 2 there seems no reason to suggest that this much smaller site is not also a camp. Enclosing an area of about 0.6 ha (1.6 acres), it is not quite square but was laid out as a parallelogram, measuring about 105 m across overall.
Where best preserved, the scarps of the inner rampart stand 1.0 m high externally and 0.3 m high internally; the outer mound is up to 0.3 m high. There are two gates on the S and on the W, each defended, as at camp 2, by double claviculae. The internal mound on the S has been reduced by ploughing and the external mound on the W is cut by a modern drain. The site is crossed by ridge-and-furrow, aligned from NNE to SSW, but the earthworks remain distinct, except on the W side where the ditch between the ramparts is reduced to little more than a vegetation mark. The Roman road from the E, aligned on the E gateway of the fort, passes the S side of the camp, where there is a junction with the Roman road that takes a more awkward route to the N of the fort and then westwards across camp 1. The latter course presumably postdates both the fort and the camp. Full information is included in the NMR Archive. (4)
Additional reference. (5-6)
The camp was transcribed as part of the Skiddaw NMP project, based on the RCHME field survey plan.
(7) |