| Summary : Cropmark of a 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 Street, the early Roman road from London to the legionary fortress of Wroxeter (Viroconium), crosses the River Penk. 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. Virtually all the features have been levelled by ploughing and most are covered with the marks of former ridge-and-furrow. Three other cropmarks, each consisting of a right angle with a rounded corner, have been recorded on the W side of the Penk valley and to the NE of the small fort at Stretton Mill. The most westerly example, camp 3, intersects with the defences of the fort there, and, if it is indeed a portion of a camp, as seems likely, it will have presumably preceded them. It is situated on the N edge of a slightly raised area, most of which is occupied by the fort. Much of the NE and part of the putative SE quadrant have been destroyed by quarrying; the former NE side is unlikely to have been more than 90m in length as there is a 2m drop in the natural valley scarp here. |
More information : This camp has been re-assessed in connection with RCHME's survey and publication of Roman Camps in England. The following descriptiveaccount 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 (1a)), 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 (1b)). 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.
Three other cropmarks, each consisting of a right angle with a rounded corner, have been recorded on the W side of the Penk valley and to the NE of the small fort at Stretton Mill. The most westerly example, camp 3, intersects with the defences of the fort there (CUCAP ADR 5-6 (1c); NMR AP 8911/1-2 (1d)), and, if it is indeed a portion of a camp, as seems likely, it will have presumably preceded them. It is situated on the N edge of a slightly raised area, most of which is occupied by the fort. Much of the NE and part of the putative SE quadrant have been destroyed by quarrying; the former NE side is unlikely to have been more than 90m in length as there is a 2m drop in the natural valley scarp here. This topographical feature was clearly also respected by the SE side of the fort annexe. The fort and its annexe, and the later ridge-and-furrow, would mask the SW side of such a camp. It could perhaps have utilised the same crest line as the SW defences of the fort, although that would have resulted in somewhat elongated proportions. The site commands good views to the S along the Penk valley, and to the NE towards Cannock Chase, and, though the outlook is restricted or very poor to the W and E, there seems to be reasonable grounds for accepting it as a probable camp.
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. (1)
Published source. (2) |