More information : 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. Previously recorded with forts A and B (see SO 88 NE 1 and 27), now assigned unique identity.
This complex of forts and camps just SW of Wolverhampton lies on and immediately W of level S-projecting tounge of land at 65 m above OD, between the small marshy valley of the Smestow Brook on the W and the broad shallow valley of the Dawley Brook on the E. The site lies at what seems to have been a nodal point in the Roman road system of the area (Webster 1981, 79-80 (1a)), some 23km S of Watling Street, at an important crossing-place of the Smestow, 550m N of its confluence with the Dawley.
The greater part of the plateau between the streams is occupied by two double-ditched forts (St Joseph 1966 (1b); Frere and St Joseph 1983, 96-9 (1c)). That on the S, fort A, about 1.6 ha in area, and with outworks to the N and E (Wilson, 1984, 51-2, 55 (1d)), takes up the prime naturally defended position and is therefore probably the earlier. Its N counterpart, fort B, which was almost exactly the same size, possessed an annexe and outwork, and was probably later in date (Frere and St Joseph 1983, 96-9 (see auth 1c)). From the very limited excavations undertaken, it seems that both may have been established within the Claudio-Neronian period (CBA Group 8 West Midlands Archaeol News Sheet 11 (1968), 13; Webster 1981, 82 (see auth 1a)).
Between the two forts, the overlapping cropmarks of what may have been two camps, 1 and 2, have been recorded (CUCAP ABR 32, 36 (1e); BUI 4 (1f)). Both appear to precede the S ditch of the annexe or outwork of fort B, for the ditches of all three are coincident for a short stretch. Their relative chronologies are, however, unknown. The E and W ditches of the camps are crossed by a substantial angled ditch, which may have originally cut off the S end of the spur. This angled ditch has been interpreted as an extra outwork for fort A (Wilson, 1984, 55 (see auth 1d)), but its context has yet to be established by excavation.
The larger of the postulated camps, 1, is represented only by its NE side and a short length of the SE side (CUCAP BUI 9 (1g); ABR 32 (1h)). The NNE ditch seems to change direction at a central causeway. The smaller possible camp, 2, is defined by the cropmark of a ditch within the NW part of camp 1 (CUCAP ABR 38 (1i); BUI 4 (see auth 1f)). Though a modern road truncates its SW angle, it probably comprised an area of about 0.4ha (1.0 acres). No gates are recorded on the aerial photographs, so the exact classification of this enclosure must remain in doubt. The position of the N side of both camps may have been conditioned by a slight gulley immediately to their N, which opens into the valley of the Smestow Brook. There has been considerable plough erosion on the plateau in the past few centuries, and this feature was probably more pronounced in the Roman period. Full information is included in the NMR Archive. (1)
Published source. (2) |