Monument Number 1398610 |
| Hob Uid: 1398610 | |
Location :
Cumbria
South Lakeland
Lakes
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| Grid Ref : NY3730003200 |
| Summary : A stone wall, which has been interpreted as a Roman quay, jetty, or sea defences. The site is situated near the north shore of Lake Windemere, south of the south-east corner of Galava (Ambleside) Roman fort. The wall was noted by Collingwood after his investigations of 1913, when the Lake level was unusually low. It was described as being sickle shaped in plan, about 270 feet long and up to 7 foot four inches broad, constructed of uncut water worn stones with a few quarried stones. Although there was no firm dating evidence Collingwood's preferred interpretation of the wall was as a quay associated with communications to the Roman fort. The remains may be linked to the report of a possible quay found by divers in the 1970s operating at the north end of the lake, however the latter reported large worked and perforated stones. |
More information : During the 1913 season of archaeological investigations by RG Collingwood and FJ Haversfield into remains of a Roman fort at Ambleside, the unsually low level of Lake Windermere revealed structural remains at the northern edge of the Lake that were otherwise submerged. These were said to be south of the south- east corner of the fort. The remains took the form of a sickle-shaped wall constructed larely from uncut stones that Collingwood and Haversfield described as "large cobbles and boulders", which were "water-worn", mixed with a few quarried stones. The remains of the wall were about 270 foot long, and between five foor eight inches to seven foot four inches wide. There were no definite termini to the wall. Only one course was visible above the mud of the lake. Although the archaeologists noted that there was no hard dating evidence, the proximity of the Roman Fort and the lack of any other infrastructure from other periods near the remains led tham to a suggest that it was possibly Roman, either a sea wall or more probably a quay, associated with the fort. The arguments for and against the interpretations are set out in the journal article. They further conjectured that it may have been used for shipping stone from Lancaster. (1)
Shotter notes in conjunction with Roman Galava (Ambleside) that in the 1970s divers operating at the northern end of Lake Windermere found "large worked and perforated stones which would not be inconsistent with jetty structures". Shotter points out that the position of the Roman fort at the end of the lake potentially enabled communications to it to be maintained by ship independantly of the road network. (2)
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