| More information : The Roman temporary camp known as ‘Birdhope 3’ is the least well-preserved and most fragmentary of a series of three Roman camps on the west side of Sills Burn. This camp was 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.
Formerly assigned NAR Number NY 89 NW 10 with camps 1 and 2. Now given unique NAR Number NY 89 NW 34. For camps 1 and 2 see NY 89 NW 10 and NY 89 NW 33 respectively.
Three superimposed camps lie on one of the largest areas of relatively level ground adjacent to Dere Street between North Tynedale and the Border. The site is immediately to the W of the deeply cut valley of the Sills Burn, 350 m to the WNW of the fort at High Rochester (Bremenium). Two-thirds of the site slopes gently to the N; in the S portion, however, between the well-preserved earthworks of camp 2 and the modern military buildings of Redesdale Camp, there is a slight but rather poorly drained fold in the ground.
Farther S again, beyond the modern camp, the land falls steeply to the haughlands of the River Rede. The outlook from the Roman camps extends northwards along Dere Street to Thirlmoor and southwards across Redesdale, but to the E the higher ground around High Rochester cuts the line of sight.
The SW angle of a third camp, 3, apparently enclosed by camp 2, can be traced, with some difficulty, on the ground. Its perimeter bank is nowhere more than 0.3 m high externally. The ditch, which is visible on the W, is no more than 0.1 m deep. The two surviving sides of this low earthwork lie almost parallel to those of camp 2; therefore the S side could have exploited to some extent the same slight topographical advantage provided by the gentle crest on which it was constructed, although neither camp had the extra outlook into the valley bottom of the Rede that would have been possible from the postulated position of the W angle of camp 1. An aerial photograph, taken in 1937 (NMR AP NY 8298/1; Fig 12 (1a)), shows that the NW side of camp 3 extended for a total length of 150 m to a NW angle. This is not verifiable on the ground but the evidence suggests that the camp would thus have enclosed an area of at least 2.1 ha (5.2 acres)).
It is clear from the good preservation of camp 2 that it must have been later than camp 1. By the same token, it seems likely that camp 3 is earlier than camp 2. The junctions between these last two have not survived on the surface but the line chosen for the SW perimeter of camp 2 is a slight improvement, topographically, when compared to that of camp 3 almost immediately to its rear. Nothing can be said of the gates of camp 3 nor of its relationship to camp 1. Full information is included in the NMR Archive (1).
NY 8270 9881. Two Roman camps, 500m E of Burdhopecrag Hall. Scheduled RSM No 20946 (2).
Published account (3).
Several unpublished accounts or field surveys (4-6).
The camp was mapped as a partial earthwork from historic aerial photography by a PhD project at the University of York, in collaboration with the Historic England aerial investigation and mapping team. The earthworks survive in a heavily-denuded state in places though have largely been levelled by the latest 2016 aerial photography. Only fragmented parts of the south and west perimeter ditch and rampart defences of this camp are visible, the eastern perimeter presumably re-using (or being overlain by) the defences of the larger 'Camp 2' (UID 914187) (7-8).
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