More information : [SO 69257830] Roman Fort. (1)
Walltown Roman fort - a square enclosure of 150 yards and 4 1/2 acres in extent. The site was excavated in 1960 and 1961 by the Kidderminster and Dist. Arch. Soc., who concluded from the character of the rampart with its timberwork, ditches and the presence of a cookhouse, that it was an example of Roman military work. There is evidence of an earlier and larger fort underneath it which extends beyond the Defences of the later fort. The complex layers at the S. end of the cutting suggest the presence of a vicus overlaying the earlier fort, or of a later Roman civil occupation.
On pottery evidence so far revealed, the site must have been occupied in the 1st century with a probable military abandonment in the later 2nd c. if not earlier.
The site is generally more complicated than had been expected, but the excavation has established beyond doubt the presence of a sequence of Roman forts of a permanent character on the site. (2)
The outline of Walltown fort can be traced although the northern half is obscured by farm buildings.
The remains of the suggested Vicus are now represented by two slight parallel banks to the south of the still considerable southern rampart.
Published survey (25') revised. (3)
In 1964 a trench was cut across an apparent line of defences to the north of the fort, which on the ground and on aerial photographs had seemed to indicate a larger and earlier fort. Excavation revealed however that they were due to terracing of the slope for a street and timber buildings. These were associated with occupation levels which thickened considerably towards the south and produced pottery of the later 1st and early 2nd centuries. The area which was levelled in 1960 may be that of an annexe to the fort which was in permanent occupation at least until early Antonine times. (4)
The interior of the Roman Fort S of the modern road is under pasture; no internal features could be recognised. Ploughing outside the fort on this side (to the lip of the ditch) has removed all possible surface traces of earlier or later work, and new buildings and dumping have filled the last remaining space in the interior N of the road.The annexe on the N side is now pasture, but only its northern and part of its western boundary are recognisable as a scarp, not more than 0.4m in height, running across a N facing slope above the valley of the Baveney Brook. No internal features are now visible.
Published survey (1:2500) revised on MSD. (5)
SO 692 783: Wall Town, Roman camp. Scheduled. (6)(7)
Scheduled. (8) |