Historic England research records

Historic England Research Records

Roall
Hob Uid: 900082
Location : North Yorkshire Selby Kellington
Grid Ref : SE5642925202
Summary : The buried remains of a Roman fort on a sandstone promontory on the south side of the River Aire flood plain. The fort was identified from aerial photographs of cropmarks taken in the summer of 1991 by the RCHME. In the following winter the West Yorkshire Archaeological Service conducted a geophysical survey of the monument which revealed further details of the site. The remains of the fort are believed to be deeply buried, and there are no upstanding earthworks. The fort is orientated to face the north east and measures 154 metres north east to south west and 138 metres wide externally, 128 metres by 101 metres internally. The remains of the double ditched defences are straight sided in plan with curved corners. There are central breaks on both the north east and south western sides for gateways (the porta praetoria and porta decumana respectively) as well as just north east, and thus forward of the centre line on the remaining two sides (for the porta principalis sinistra and dextra). The geophysical survey also identified a number of internal features including the street (via the principalis) linking the two principal gates, an area in the southern corner considered to be the fort's workshops as well as a number of other ditches and pits. Scheduled.
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)

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Source Number : 1
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Source details : David MacLeod. Apr-1991. RCHME: Roall Manor Farm Project
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Source Number : 1a
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Source details : Yarwood B and Marriot J. 1992. Roall - Roman Fort. Lower Aire-Calder Valley Survey Interim Report 2 West Yorkshire Archaeological Service
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Source Number : 1B
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Page(s) : 243-247
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Vol(s) : 24

Source Number : 2
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Source details : MacLeod D. Deputy Reconnaissance Officer, APU, RCHME/18-Jul-1994/ See films 12504 and 12512 dated 11-07-94 and films 12524 and 12523 dated 18-07-94.
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Source Number : 3
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Source details : 29-Apr-98
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Source Number : 4
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Source details : See authority (2)
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Monument Types:

Monument Period Name : Roman
Display Date : Possibly Flavian
Monument End Date :
Monument Start Date :
Monument Type : Fort
Evidence : Cropmark

Components and Objects:

Related Records from other datasets:

External Cross Reference Source : Scheduled Monument Legacy (National No.)
External Cross Reference Number : 30128
External Cross Reference Notes :

External Cross Reference Source : SMR Number (North Yorkshire)
External Cross Reference Number : 9330
External Cross Reference Notes :

External Cross Reference Source : National Monuments Record Number
External Cross Reference Number : SE 52 NE 7
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Related Warden Records :

Associated Monuments :
Relationship type : Is referred to by

Related Activities :

Associated Activities :
Activity type : GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY
Start Date : 1991-01-01
End Date : 1992-12-31

Associated Activities :
Activity type : AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH INTERPRETATION
Start Date : 1992-04-01
End Date : 1992-12-01

Associated Activities :
Activity type : FIELD SURVEY
Start Date : 1995-01-01
End Date : 1996-12-31

Associated Activities :
Activity type : AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH INTERPRETATION
Start Date : 1998-01-06
End Date : 2000-12-31