| More information : The large Roman temporary camp known as ‘Bellshiel’, located on higher ground between Dere Street Roman road to the east and Bellshiel Burn to the west.
[NY 81809980] Roman Camp [R] (1).
A Roman temporary camp at Bellshiel situated on the near level top of a ridge (see plan) (2).
Remains of a sub-rectangular Roman temporary camp consisting of a single earthen rampart and outer ditch situated upon a shallow hilltop. The hilltop is covered by a network of old field banks which incorporate, in places, long stretches of the rampart of the camp. The traverse on the E side is reduced to an outward facing scarp. Description by Authority 2 correct - see sketch survey (3).
No change from report of 16 8 56. Surveyed at 1:2500 (4).
Roman temporary camp with no traces of a ditch (5).
As described in report of 16.8.56 (6).
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 camp, which encloses an area of 15.9ha (39.4 acres), occupies a broad domed summit to the W of Dere Street, above the steep slopes on the E bank of the Bellshiel Burn, close to its confluence with the River Rede. Within the interior the ground slopes gently to the E towards Dere Street and the Sills Burn; the view takes in both the Rede and the Bellshiel Burn valleys and the fort at High Rochester (Bremenium), 1.5km to the SE. To the N, the horizon is formed by Bellshiel Law, just over 1km away.
The hilltop, which is up to 252m above OD, has been cultivated for a limited period in the past, the greater part of the interior of the camp being covered with ridge-and-furrow. A number of boundary banks, some probably contemporary with this ploughing and others apparently later in date, make the initial identification of the surviving Roman earthworks difficult in some sections. The prominent mounds of upcast piled around bell-pits (p on fig 61), sunk for the extraction of coal evidently, postdate the cultivation. The summit of the hill is approximately marked by a prehistoric cairn (c), 8m in diameter and 0.8m in height, which has a modern military trench cut around its N arc. From this point the ground falls gently away down slightly convex slopes. Inter-visibility is, therefore, restricted within the camp and this may have made the setting out of the defences somewhat difficult. The E and W sides are parallel but those on the N and S are realigned at gateways. Only the NW angle is not a right angle. The E side is approximately 15m longer than the W one. The latter runs along the crest of the hill above the Bellshiel Burn; it is overlain along its S half by the remains of a boundary bank 1.5m high that contains large quantities of stone. To the N, this later line diverges, leaving the ragged discontinuous remains of the Roman defences exposed around the NW angle. The ploughing of the interior of the camp has reduced the rampart here to a series of mounds which stand 1.3m high externally and no more than 0.4m in height internally. The W end of the N side s even less well preserved, the fragmentary rampart being no more than 0.7m high externally and 0. m high internally. Nowhere in this NW quarter is the ditch any more than 0.3m deep. Immediately to the E, two relatively recent quadrangular enclosures, bounded by banks of earth and stone, overlie or utilise the Roman defences and are associated with the gently curving bank and ditch that crosses the camp from N to S. In the westerly of these two enclosures the preservation of the ramparts progressively declines, due to the ridge-and-furrow which itself seems to predate the enclosure. There is a slight in-turn of the scarp of the rampart here but there is no firm indication that this is a remnant of a Roman gate. Farther E, the defences are overlain by a boundary bank which is 1.2m high on its N side, up to 0.5m high to the S and 2.5m broad. The NE angle of the camp lies in poorly drained ground outside the later field system. Here the Roman rampart is spread to a width of 4m; its external scarp survives to a maximum height of 1.2m and on its inner side the rampart is up to 0.4m high. The ditch, which is 0.7m deep, has been further deepened for a modern drain. Much of the E side is again overlain by the continuation of the boundary bank which, for some of its course, is flanked by drains; from the site of the SE angle the bank continues southwards beyond the camp.
The W quarter of the S defences are overlain by a boundary bank and by later industrial activity. Elsewhere, most of this side has been severely reduced by ridge-and-furrow. However, some fragments of the rampart have survived virtually intact and still stand up to 1.3m high externally and 0.6m internally. No ditch is visible on this side and this may be because the rock is too close to the surface. This is certainly true towards the W end, as can be seen in the rock-cut coal-shafts (p on Fig 61), but elsewhere modern soldiers have managed to cut two shallow trenches (t). Nevertheless, any Roman ditch which had been dug here would have been filled by the ridge-and-furrow ploughing.
Only two gates through the defences are readily recognisable. At the central point of the E side the comparatively well-preserved ditch of a traverse survives outside the line of the rampart. The ditch is only 0.4m deep but, partly because it is set on a slight eastward slope, the outer scarp of the mound is still 1.0 m high; the inner scarp now measures only 0.2m in height. The position of the gate itself is obscured by the later boundary bank. The only identifiable S gate was defended by an internal clavicula. Apart from the loss of its tip, trimmed away by ploughing, this clavicula is strikingly well preserved, standing up to 1.0m high and revealing that its bank contains large amounts of stone. The other gates are now more difficult to identify. At the central point of the W side the later boundary bank abruptly leaves the Roman line, suggesting that the defences were interrupted here in some way, perhaps for a gate. A slight scarp, barely 0.2m high and not survey-able, could conceivably represent the last vestige of a traverse, although this is markedly closer to the rampart than the better preserved example at the equivalent point on the E. At the central point of the N side the defences change alignment slightly. This commonly happens at a gate but at Bellshiel this position coincides with a slight crest which forms the skyline when seen from the NE angle. It is thus likely that this was simply a surveying point at which a slight error was made in the laying out of the camp. A similar realignment seems to occur at the centre of the S side although here there is no topographical feature that might have influenced the design. A gate might be expected through the N rampart opposite the S clavicula but here again there are no clear indications. In the W half of the S side, there is a mound lying at an angle to the line of the defences; on plan, this may appear to be superficially similar to an external clavicula, but it is a tip, 2 m high, thrown up from the adjacent coal-shaft (p) immediately to the W. Full information is included in the NMR Archive (7).
NY 8183 9982. Roman camp and prehistoric round cairn 700m NE of Bellshiel Bridge. Scheduled RSM No 20944 (8).
Published account (9).
Recorded in several hand-drawn survey records (10-13).
The large Roman temporary camp known as ‘Bellshiel’, previously recorded on higher ground between Dere Street Roman road to the east and Bellshiel Burn to the west, was mapped as an earthwork from aerial photography and lidar imagery as part of a PhD project at the University of York, in collaboration with the Historic England aerial investigation and mapping team. The earthworks generally survive on the latest 2016 imagery, though are overlain in places by later field boundaries, ridge and furrow ploughing (UID 1630601), coal mining activity and military training features associated with the Otterburn Training Area. The camp, as visible on aerial imagery, matches the descriptions from Authorities 1-13. The majority of the perimeter rampart and ditch survive as earthworks on the latest 2016 imagery, though augmented in places by later field boundaries and drainage ditches. The camp measures c.500 x 330m, enclosing an area of 15.5ha.
While the later field boundaries are often fragmented, the broader underlying Roman rampart often survives for greater lengths, with only one major gap on its western side, where a modern military road passes through it. It is broken in places by later boundaries, access routes and coal workings (UID 1630816). The southern perimeter has been disrupted by Second World War military training activities and trackways (UID 1630746) which in places lie along the line of the ditch or cut through the rampart. The in-turned clavicula guarding an entrance on the southern side, described by Authority 7, survives as an earthwork, though the entrance itself has been obscured by a military trackway. Similarly, the external traverse on the eastern entrance is visible as an extant bank with outer ditch, forcing a causewayed trackway (UID 1630789) to divert south around it to access the camp. The camp contains a Bronze Age round cairn (UID 17266) and a number of bell pits and associated spoil heaps making up part of the aforementioned coal workings (UID 1630816) (14-16).
|