More information : The Roman temporary camp known as ‘Birdhope 1’, surveyed by multiple antiquarians and archaeologists and subsequently recorded by the RCHME's survey and publication of Roman Camps in England as the largest and earliest of a series of three Roman camps on the west side of Sills Burn.
('B'-NY 827988) Roman Camp (R) (1).
There are two Roman camps, known as Birdhope 1 and Birdhope 2 (see Plan):
'A' - Birdhope 1. Temporary camp with remains of claviculae on the W and S sides. The interior contains many rectangular pits for shelter and storage.
'B' - Birdhope 2. Semi-permanent camp of later date and not connected with Birdhope 1. Traverses cover all gates except the north where there is only a faint trace of a traverse ditch (2).
NY 82679887. Camp 'A'. Most of the E side and fragments of the S and W sides are still visible. There are traces of claviculae on the S and W entrances.
NY 82739887. Camp 'B'. Description by Authy 2 correct. See sketch surveys (3).
Fragmentary remains of Camp 'A' are generally as described by Authy 3, except that the clavicula to the S entrance is no longer apparent. In addition, the line of the N side is visible for about two thirds of its length as a narrow superficial ditch. Surveyed at 1:2500. Camp 'B' as described in Authority 2. Re-surveyed at 1:2500 (4).
No traces of the pits within Camp 'A' mentioned by Authority 2 (5).
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. NAR number NY 89 NW 10 now exclusive to camp 1; for camps 2 and 3, see NAR numbers NY 89 NW 33 and NY 89 NW 34 respectively.
Three superimposed camps lie on one of the largest areas of relatively level ground adjacent to Dere Street between North Tynedale and the Border. The site is immediately to the W of the deeply cut valley of the Sills Burn, 350 m to the WNW of the fort at High Rochester (Bremenium). Two-thirds of the site slopes gently to the N; in the S portion, however, between the well-preserved earthworks of camp 2 and the modern military buildings of Redesdale camp, there is a slight but rather poorly drained fold in the ground. Farther S again, beyond the modern camp, the land falls steeply to the haughlands of the River Rede. The outlook from the Roman camps extends northwards along Dere Street to Thirlmoor and southwards across Redesdale, but to the E the higher ground around High Rochester cuts the line of site.
Camp 1, the largest of the three, seems to have been set out as a parallelogram enclosing an area of 12.3 ha (30.4 acres). The line of the E lies very close to the rapidly eroding slopes, 20 m high, above the Sills Burn; the Roman defences here are overlain by a later boundary bank up to 0.7 m high. A gap in this bank, nearly 40 m to the N of the point where the eroding river-scarp comes closest to the defences, may mark a gate although this cannot now be proven from field work alone; at the equivalent position on the W there is a gate defended by a clavicula. The N side of the camp is barely traceable, having been almost levelled by cultivation or concealed by the growth of peat. The rampart only survives as a slight rise about 2 m wide, its better preserved external scarp being nowhere more than 0.2 m high. The line of the ditch can be traced intermittently as a vegetation mark. The area of the NW angle lies in very poorly drained ground and the earthworks here are probably covered by peat.
Much of the W side is marginally better preserved; the defences there are 5.5 m across overall, and consist of a bank and ditch measuring 0.3 m in height and depth respectively. As so often elsewhere, the defences are slightly realigned at the single relatively well-preserved gate, to the S of which the ditch has been partly re-cut as a modern drain. Beyond the slight natural fold in the SW quarter of the camp, the SW angle of the defences would have been on slightly higher ground with a restricted view of the land beside the River Rede.
The modern camp has destroyed all trace of the SW angle of its predecessor, the earthworks of which reappear to the E, immediately before what may have been a gate, set at the central point on this S side. The bank here stands to a height of 0.2 m at best and the ditch, 0.1 m deep, is little more than a vegetation mark. It has been suggested that the slight mound, 0.1 m high, just inside the line of the bank at the postulated gate, is the last remnant of a clavicula (Richmond 1940, 122, fig 33 (see auth 2)). The only relatively well-preserved gate is that on the W where the mound of an internal clavicula survives to a height of 0.4 m. The point at which it sprang from the perimeter has been destroyed by a modern military installation. There is no sign of the external traverse shown here by MacLauchlan (1864, 64, sheet V (6ab)). This gate lies just over 30 m to the N of the central point of the W side, suggesting that the camp faced N towards Dere Street about 80 m away. The slight inturn of the scarp marking the defences on that side could be the last remnant of a clavicula if three equally spaced gates were originally provided facing the road.
Inside the camp and outside its SE angle there is a small cluster of bell-pits dug for coal. Among these are the faint earthworks of several small, rectangular, earthen, Roman mausolea and some simple, circular barrows which are probably contemporary. Richmond (1940, 122 (see auth 2) was less accurate than MacLauchlan (1852, 35 (6b)) as to their origin for he considered that these were 'rectangular pits for shelter or storage, sometimes associated with mounds to shield them and the tents from wind and rain'. From this he deduced that camp 1 was semi-permanent. However, from their positions, these burial mounds evidently postdate the construction and use of camps 1 and 2; it is clear that this area, overlooked by the fort at High Rochester, was used as an extension to the partly excavated Petty Knowes cemetery, to the E of the fort, which seems to have been receiving burials from the early 2nd century to the early 4th century (Charlton and Mitcheson 1984 (6c)).
It is clear from the good preservation of camp 2 that it must have been later in date than camp 1. By the same token, it seems likely that camp 3 is earlier than camp 2. The junctions between these last two have not survived on the surface but the line chosen for the SW perimeter of camp 2 is a slight improvement, topographically, when compared to that of camp 3 almost immediately to its rear. Nothing can be said of the gates of camp 3 nor of its relationship to camp 1. Full information is included in the NMR Archive (6).
NY 8270 9881. Two Roman camps, 550m E of Burdhopecrag Hall. Scheduled RSM No 20946 (7).
Published account (8).
Several unpublished surveys and notes (9-11).
The camp was mapped as a partial earthwork from lidar imagery and remains extant on the latest 2016 aerial photography. The surviving perimeter elements on the four sides of the camp described in detail by Authority 6 were mapped from lidar imagery and remain extant on the latest 2016 aerial photography. In addition, the north-west angle of the camp is visible on historic aerial photography as low, fragmented earthwork ditches and banks in places, though the south-west angle remains obscured by the 20th century military camp (12-14).
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