| Summary : The site of a Roman signal station at Mains Rigg. It was excavated in 1928 and 1971-2 revealing the foundations of the signal tower, measuring 6.5 metres square externally, with walls 1.0 metre thick and 0.5-0.7 metres high; no Roman finds were recovered. The turf-covered remains are situated at NY 6132 6517 on a sloping terrace within boggy, degraded pasture, and have been surveyed at 1:500 scale by the RCHME. It survives as a platform, about 12.5 metres north-east to south-west by 11.0 metres transversely within a silted ditch, varying from 0.5 metres to 2.0 metres deep. The signal station is located between the Roman forts at Throp and Nether Denton and is visible from both of them; it may have formed part of a signalling system associated with the 'Stanegate Frontier'.The earthworks are visible on air photographs and digital elevation models derived from Environment Agency lidar and Structure from Motion taken from 2017 specialist oblique photography, and was mapped by Historic England as part of the English Heritage Trust's 'Hadrian's Wall: Birdoswald Sector Survey'. |
More information : (NY 6132 6517) Roman Signal Station (R) (1)
Lying just south of the level-crossing west of Over Denton, it was identified in 1928 by F G Simpson. A stone tower 21' square, surrounded by a ditch with causeway, it links the forts of Throp and Nether Denton which are invisible from one another. (2-3)
The site was partially excavated by Durham University at the time of inspection revealing the foundations of the signal tower, measuring 6.5m square externally, with walls 1.0m thick and 0.5-0.7m high. The tower occupies the top of a sub-rectangular mound, maximum height 1.6m on the N side, which is surrounded by a ditch, maximum depth 0.6m, with a causeway at the SE angle.
Resurveyed at 1:2500. (4)
Re-excavated on behalf of Durham University at Easter 1971, when the site was planned for the first time. (Measurements similar to those given by F1). No Roman finds were made, and in spite of careful excavation, no occupation material was found in the tower, only a large amount of stone rubble from the robbing of the site at whatever date. The only datable finds (unstratified) were an Anglo-Irish silver penny of Edward I c 1280-82 and a very abraded piece of what may have been a willow-pattern plate. (5)
The turf-covered remains of Mains Rigg Roman signal station, situated at NY 6132 6517 on a sloping terrace within boggy, degraded pasture, have been surveyed at 1:500 scale by RCHME in March 1994. It survives as a platform, about 12.5 m NE-SW by 11.0 m transversely within a silted ditch, varying from 0.5 m to 2.0 m deep. When the 1971-2 trenches were back-filled, the stone signal tower was re-buried and there is now no trace above ground. However, its precise position could be determined from the unpublished 1:100 excavation plan obtained from the excavator. (6-7)
Scheduled (8)
The faint earthwork remains of the Roman signal station described by the previous authorities were seen at NY 6131 6517 and mapped from historical aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hadrian's Wall NMP project. (9)
Located on the English Heritage map of Hadrian's Wall 2010. (10)
The Roman signal station is visible as earthworks on air photographs and digital elevation models derived from Environment Agency lidar and Structure from Motion taken from 2017 specialist oblique photography. The outer ditch is well defined, though largely covered in vegetation, with almost a complete circuit. There a causeway across the ditch in the north-east corner, but this might be more recent in date. The embanked tower foundations are visible, sited centrally within the internal platform and measure 7 by 7.5 metres.
(11) |