| Summary : Cropmark of Roman temporary camp. A large group of military installations, comprising a vexillation fortress, two forts and a number of camps, lies in the vicinity of Water Eaton and Stretton Mill, near the point where Watling St, the early Roman road from London to the legionary fortress of Wroxeter, crosses the River Penk. This strategic location developed into a nodal point in the Roman road system from which roads left Watling St for Chester, Wroxeter, Greensforge, and perhaps Metchley. In the later Roman period a small defended settlement, probably a posting-station, called Pennocrucium, was laid out astride Watling St. The camps lie on either side of the Penk Valley, N of Watling Street. Virtually all the features have been levelled by ploughing and most are covered with the marks of former ridge-and-furrow. Camp 1 occupies a level terrace on the SE side of the valley, in the angle between the River Penk and an unnamed tributary flowing. Significant height differences over a relatively small area, as well as geological irregularities, have caused difficulties in plotting and have blurred the clarity of the cropmarks. However, the camp appears to be almost rectangular, though slightly narrower in its SW half, with broadly rounded corners. It measures approximately 162m from NE to SW, by between about 92m and 97m transversely, and encloses an area of about 1.5 ha (3.8 acres). No certain entrances can be discerned, but a modern drain, which passes through the approximate centre of the NW and SE sides, may have utillised, and thereby obscured, original entrances at these points. Any central gate on the NE side is hidden by a profusion of cropmarks there. The N half of the NW side lies on the edge of a slight scarp, and is aligned approximately with it; this perhaps determined the overall axis of the camp, although the S part of this ditch awkwardly straddles the slope. |
More information : A small Roman temporary camp has been identified at SJ 904114 (B). The line of its ditch is seen as a cropmark on photographs. The camp, which is c290ft from SE to NW by 450ft lies on a shelf above the E bank of the Penk. No trace is now visible on the surface. (Plotted from site plan at SJ 9035 1135). (1)
Nothing visible on the ground which is arable land, at present under pasture. Baker APs (a) show cropmarks of a small square enclosure within the S angle of the temporary camp and a four-sided enclosure probably overlying the NE side of the camp. (2)
Formerly scheduled as Staffs No.236, this is now included in the schedule of the adjacent temporary camp, (SJ 91 SW 37), as Staffs No.158. (3)
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 large group of military installations, comprising a vexillation fortress, two forts and a number of camps, lies in the vicinity of Water Eaton and Stretton Mill (St Joseph 1965, 76-7 (see auth 1)), near the point where Watling Street, the early Roman road from London to the legionary fortress of Wroxeter (Viroconium), crosses the River Penk (Margary 1973, 291-2 (4a)). This strategic location developed into a nodal point in the Roman road system from which roads left Watling Street for Chester, Wroxeter, Greensforge, and perhaps Metchley. In the later Roman period a small defended settlement, probably a posting-station, called Pennocrucium, was laid out astride Watling Street.
The camps lie on either side of the Penk Valley, N of Watling Street. For the most part, the valley sides are quite gentle, but they are broken in places by steeper natural scarps. These have been exploited to good effect by the positioning of the various military installations which are all intervisible. Virtually all the features have been levelled by ploughing and most are covered with the marks of former ridge-and-furrow.
Camp 1 occupies a level terrace on the SE side of the valley, in the angle between the River Penk and an unnamed tributary flowing NW (NMR AP SJ 9011/44 (4b); CUCAP ADR 4 (4c); ADQ 90 (4d); BQW 67-8 (4e)). Significant height differences over a relatively small area, as well as geological irregularities, have caused difficulties in plotting and have blurred the clarity of the cropmarks. However, the camp appears to be almost rectangular, though slightly narrower in its SW half, with broadly rounded corners. It measures approximately 162m from NE to SW, by between about 92m and 97m transversely, and encloses an area of about 1.5 ha (3.8 acres). No certain entrances can be discerned, but a modern drain, which passes through the approximate centre of the NW and SE sides, may have utillised, and thereby obscured, original entrances at these points. Any central gate on the NE side is hidden by a profusion of cropmarks there. The N half of the NW side lies on the edge of a slight scarp, and is aligned approximately with it; this perhaps determined the overall axis of the camp, although the S part of this ditch awkwardly straddles the slope.
The camp has good views along the valley, but is totally overlooked from the E, SE and W; its only topographical advantages are the scarps down to the watercourses on the N and W. In all, its less than satisfactory position suggests that it may not have been a primary feature within the Roman landscape. Its position, only about 240m WSW of the Kinvaston vexillation fortress (Webster 1955 (4f)), may indicate a relationship between the two.
Within the whole Water Eaton complex none of the camps occupy positions as good as those utilised by the two forts and the vexillation fortress. The presumption must be that, with the possible exception of camp 3, each of them was dependent upon one of the permanent establishments. Full information is included in the NMR Archive. (4)
Published source. (5) |