| Summary : Earthwork remains of a Roman temporary camp. It lies between 158 m and approximately 175 m above OD on the gently sloping NE-facing side of the Rede valley. It has extensive views down the valley to the SE but the slight rise at Blakehope, 600 m to th N, partly blocks lines of sight in that direction. Almost immediately to the S of the camp the steep-sided valley of the Dargues Burn affords excellent protection. On the SW side there is good visibility to the W and up the Dargues Burn. Across the latter and 500 m to the SE is the native settlement at Garret Shiels (NAR NY 89 SE 3, beyond which visibility is obscured by rising ground. The camp, which faces NE, is an almost regular playing-card shape and its NE rampart is approximately aligned on Dere Street, 40 m to the E, on the far side of the modern A68 road. It encloses an area of about 5.9 ha (14.5 acres). The NE and SE sides were probably slightly shorter than those on the SW and NW, but they cannot be measured precisely due to the destruction of the E corner of the camp by the farm buildings at Dargues. There are four opposing entrances, each protected by an internal clavicula. |
More information : [NY 86009376] Camp [GS] (1)
The temporary Camp behind the farmhouse at Dargues occupies a plateau which slopes gently from west to east. The Dargues Burn (60.0m to the south) assures a good supply of water. The camp would hold a detachment of about seven cohorts. The work is not quite regular, the north side measuring 1014ft, the west side 665ft while the mutilated east and south sides can be computed at approximately 700 and 900ft respectively. There are four gates, the east and west central, the north and south about 300ft behind the east front. The camp thus faced Dere Street about 30 yards away. Each gate is about 35' 0" wide with an internal clavicula round which the ditch has been continued. (2)
The south east angle of the camp and adjacent ramparts have been obliterated by the modern farmstead. At the Roman Camp of Dargues there are faint traces of an outwork across the road, possibly to defend the passage of the brook. (3)
Topographical position and general condition report correct as in Authy 2 save that linear measurements are in error, the camp is, in fact, quite regular (see plan) and situated at approximately 520 feet above sea level. The defences consist of a single rampart with outer ditch, there are no indications of internal features, or of external defences as noted by Authy 3. (4)
Published survey (25") revised. (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.
This large camp lies between 158 m and approximately 175 m above OD on the gently sloping NE-facing side of the Rede valley. It has extensive views down the valley to the SE but the slight rise at Blakehope, 600 m to th N, partly blocks lines of sight in that direction. Almost immediately to the S of the camp the steep-sided valley of the Dargues Burn affords excellent protection. On the SW side there is good visibility to the W and up the Dargues Burn. Across the latter and 500 m to the SE is the native settlement at Garret Shiels (NAR NY 89 SE 3 (see 6a)), beyond which visibility is obscured by rising ground.
The camp, which faces NE, is an almost regular playing-card shape and its NE rampart is approximately aligned on Dere Street, 40 m to the E, on the far side of the modern A68 road. It encloses an area of about 5.9 ha (14.5 acres). The NE and SE sides were probably slightly shorter than those on the SW and NW, but they cannot be measured precisely due to the destruction of the E corner of the camp by the farm buildings at Dargues. There are four opposing entrances, each protected by an internal clavicula. These entrances are centrally placed on the shorter NE and SW sides but are offset approximately 53 m to the NE on the long axis. No structures are visible in the interior which is cut by numerous drainage ditches of varying age, some partly obliterated by the growth of peat.
The SW rampart is now flat-topped but is fairly well preserved, averaging 0.2 m in height with a ditch 0.3 m deep, and is carefully sited on the crest of the hillside. Farther to the SW, the ground levels out and then begins to drop slightly to the W. In the S corner the ditch is silted and distorted at the junction with a modern drainage ditch but the spread rampart is still 0.4 m high. The bank of the SW clavicula stands up to 0.5 m high, but its ditch is now defined by little more than a change in the vegetation.
Despite the damage caused at one point by the cutting of a drain, the rampart at the W angle of the camp survives to a height of 0.7 m above the bottom of the ditch; the latter is almost obliterated. On the NW the ditch partly follows the line of a slight natural dip; it has been widened by water-scouring and substantially infilled by rotivation and drain-laying. This has also badly mutilated the front of the rampart which here averages 0.3 m in height. The bank of the clavicula stands 0.4 m high and is the best preserved although its tip has been truncated by a drain.
The N trench of the NE rampart is as much as 0.6 m high and the ditch here is up to 0.4 m deep, but the flat-topped rampart has frequent breaks caused by natural and modern drainage. These agencies have also largely destroyed the clavicula, farming activities have mutilated the rampart, pulling it forward into the ditch. In the field to the N of Dargues farmhouse, the rampart has been spread and distorted by ridge-and-furrow and it is totally obliterated immediately adjacent to the farmhouse by disturbance resulting from the construction of a large barn. No Roman structures were identified at the time of this development in the 1980's (inf P Austen, English Heritage).
In the field immediately W of the farmhouse, the SE rampart is very eroded and is now only about 0.1 m high; the general line of the ditch is clear but it is in poor condition, having been distorted and eroded by water. The bank of the clavicula is 0.2 m high, but its ditch has been somewhat deepened by water-scouring. In the next field to the SW, the rampart is 0.4 m high and the ditch is up to 1.0 m deep; however, both have been accentuated by the recutting and maintenance of the ditch as a drain: spoil has been deposited externally, to form a small but sharp bank, and internally as an addition to the top of the rampart.
East of the A68, the line of Dere Street is indicated by an agger up to 0.1 m high, with scatters of cobbles and stones where the ground is eroded. Beyond and roughly parallel to the agger is a much reduced headland. East of the cottage on the E of the A68 is a disturbed area of rock and stone but no obvious pattern of structural remains can be discerned. The feature depicted here by MacLauchlan (1825, 29-30, map 5 (see auth 3)) seems best interpreted as being partly of natural origin and partly a continuation of the ploughing headland to the NW. Full information is available in the NAR Archive. (6)
Published account. (7)
Roman temporary camp at Dargues. (8) |