| Summary : Roman camp located on arable land east of Catterick Racecourse. It lies on the plain of the River Swale near a point where the river bends south. Dere Street, the major Roman road from the north east into Scotland, probably fossilising an earlier campaigning route, passes about 350 metres to the west. The crossing point was protected on the south bank by an early fort, later overlain by the town of Catterick or Cataractonium, and on the north bank at Brompton-on-Swale by a fortified bridge-head enclosure. |
More information : Part of a temporary Roman camp has been observed at SE 231 991; 1/4 mile east of Cataractonium and east of the modern road. (Not visible on available APs). (1)
Details of the camp now identifiable are "540 feet of the north side, the rounded northeast angle, and a length of 850 feet of the east side, including a gate with traverse". The west part of the camp lies beneath Catterick racecourse. (2)
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 fragment of a possible camp has been recorded from the air immediately east of Catterick Racecourse (St Joseph 1955, 82 (see auth 1); 1973, 214 (see auth 2); CUCAP ACB 26 (3a)). It lies at about 60 metres above OD, on the relatively flat alluvial plain of the River Swale, near a point where the river bends southwards. Dere Street, the major Roman road from the northeast into Scotland, probably fossilising an earlier campaigning route, passes about 350 metres to the west, crossing the River Swale some 600 metres to the west north west of the camp. The crossing point was protected on the south bank by an early fort, later overlain by the town of Catterick (Cataractonium), and on the north bank, at Brompton-on-Swale, by a fortified bridge-head enclosure (Wilson 1984 (3b)). The northeast corner and parts of two sides of the camp are known from cropmarks (CUCAP RG 58 (see auth 3a)). The east ditch is visible only as a discontinuous line, but it is unlikely to have been substantially longer than the 215 metres so far recorded; it was probably not more than 230 metres in length overall, as there are indications that the ditch is beginning to turn westwards to form the south east angle. There are no certain gates in this side; a cropmark of what could be a traverse might suggest an entrance, the causeway having perhaps been breached subsequently for drainage at this point. The north side extends to at least 160 metres and has a gate gap protected by a traverse about 70 metres west of the corner. Geophysical survey and excavation west of Leeming Lane, in the east part of the central reservation of Catterick Racecourse, found no evidence for the west side of the camp there (Central Excavation Catterick Unit site 273; inf P Wilson). The area of the camp is thus unknown. Full information is included in the NMR Archive. (3)
This camp has been re-assessed again and transcribed at 1:2,500, this time as part of the RCHME: Catterick Project (Event UID: 1089597). Essentially the cropmarks are the same as those plotted by the earlier survey and are interpreted from the same photographs. However some mis-matching is apparent between the two surveys and is thought to derive from the use of improved plane transformation software. This latest survey records a minimum length of 224 metres along the east side and places the centre of the entrance causeway on the north side at 80 metres from the corner. The interpreter has also tentatively identified parts of the south and west sides giving an over all length of 234 metres. The suggested west side is not parallel with the east side and would give a width range of between 166 and 190 metres. (4)
Published reference. (5)
A Roman camp located east of Catterick Racecourse, identified from crop marks in arable farmland. This camp has not been subject to any other archaeological investigation and details of its degree of survival are not known. If it is shown in the future that significant in situ remains survive then the site should be reassessed. Also if the site is reverted to pasture long enough to lose arable class consent, scheduling should be reconsidered. Because of the high associated value of the camp with the rest of Cataractonium, it is recommended that any application for gravel extraction should be subject to pre-determination archaeological evaluation.(6)
These cropmarks have been reassessed by the Yorkshire Henges and their Environs Air Photo Mapping Project. This interpretation of the camp has it at approximately 225m long and at least 165m wide. It appears to be oriented north-north-west to south-south-east. The eastern side, south-east and north-east corners are mostly visible, the northern and southern sides are partially visible but truncated by the modern A1. The section identified as the western side by authority 4 has not been seen on any of the photographs consulted for this project. Two ditches to the north of the camp may be associated with it. (7) |