More information : Centred at SE 5643 2521, north of Roall Manor Farm is a Roman fort of circa 1.30 hectares showing as a cropmark, discovered in July 1991 and plotted as part of the RCHME: Roall Manor Farm Project (Event UID: 918845). The fort is sited on a barely perceptable bluff at 8 m O.D., circa 3 m above an abandoned course of the river Aire. The cropmarks are clear but discontinuous, suggesting that the fort had only one ditch and showing little of the forts internal layout. Of typical "playing card" plan the fort measures 127 m x 106 m internally. Further detail revealed by the West Yorkshire Archaeology Service magnetic survey (Event UID: 900091) correlates well with the cropmark plot and shows a second ditch and enough detail to determine that the fort was built with the main gate (porta praetoria) on the north east, facing the river (1a). By comparison with neighbouring forts at Brough, Hayton and Castleford the Roall fort may tentatively be dated as Flavian. There are other features to the north and south of the fort. The York Environs Project (University of York) augered over the site and determined that the fort is covered by up to 80 cm of wind blown sand. Field walking by staff of the RCHME Air Photography Unit produced 20 pieces of flint (15 waste flakes, 1 core and 4 worked pieces) and pottery, including samian fragments and Crambeck Ware. The majority are Grey Ware and medieval types. (1-1b).
Since its discovery the fort has been monitored regularly from the air but was not seen again until 1993 and then only poorly, but the dry spring and summer of 1994 produced better cropmarks than those photographed in July 1991. (2)
Site scheduled. (3)
The fort was re-assessed from air photographs as part of the RCHME: Vale of York Project, part of the National Mapping Programme. There was nothing of significance to add to the plot of the fort. However , the associated features, described in SE 52 NE 8 were clearer on the latest photography (see 2) The extent of these features now includes fragmentary cropmarks immediately east of the fort, increasing the likelyhood that they represent the remains of a vicus. Neither the earlier or this latest plot should be used without consulting the magnetic survey by WYAS (see reference 1a). (4) |