| Summary : Earthwork remains of a Roman temporary camp. This fairly well preserved camp lies on the E side of Dere Street, and faces the road. It is situated on a gently sloping E-facing spur between the headwaters of the Ridlees and Southhope Burns, 7 km N of the fort at High Rochester (Bremenium). The highest point of the camp, at about 430 m above OD, is at the NW corner, and the ground falls away to about 380 m at the SE corner. The NE, SE and SW angles lie on opposite sides of the spur and the convex slopes mean that there is no point from which the whole of the interior is visible. The result is that the camp occupies a much less advantageous topographical position than its neighbour, Featherwood West, 250 m to the W. The area enclosed, 15.9 ha (39.4 acres), is almost precisely the same as that at Featherwood West. This, together with the markedly inferior position occupied by the E camp, may suggest that the two were contemporary; it is even possible that each may have held half of a single force. The views to the NE and SE over the Ridlees valley are unobstructed; Kyloe Knowe and Ridlees Cairn, over 1 km away, block the view to the S, but the only serious restriction is immediately to the W, where the S spur of Foulplay Head, carrying Dere Street, forms the horizon. So long as the W camp was also occupied, this flank would have been covered. |
More information : (NT 82020563) Roman camp. (1)
A Roman temporary camp, Featherwood East, was discovered by air photography in 1934. It is situated astride a spur on the south side of the Ridless Burn. The camp is regularly planned and almost square. The west side is 1346 feet long, the north 1322, the east 1366 and the south 1323. Rampart and ditch are each 10-1/2 feet wide. Each side has one gate, the east and west gates being central, while the north and south gates lie west of the axis. The camp is large enough for an expeditionary force. (2)
Featherwood East camp has a rampart and ditch with average widths of 15 ft and 12 ft respectively. On the west side the rampart is up to4 ft above the bottom of the ditch. There are four gateways, each with a `tutulus'. The camp fronted westwards, towards Dere Street. (3)
Remains of a Ro temporary camp situated at approx 1400 ft above sea level, upon a south facing pasture slope, with a max gradient of 1:7. There is a local NE slope towards the NE corner of the camp. The camp consisted of a bank with an outer ditch, with an entrance in each side, protected by a traverse. The traverse opposite the east entrance cannot now be traced. A stream, 50.0m from the N side, is the nearest present water supply. (4)
Plan reproduced in authority 2 checked and found correct, the ramparts vary in width between 4.2 metres - 7.0 metres and have a maximum height of 0.5 metres; the ditch is from 3.0 metres - 4.0 metres wide and has a maximum depth of 0.4 metres. This temporary camp falls within an active artillery range but is protected from damage by War Department signs noting its antiquity. (5)
(Subsequently published) Roman Camp (GSC) (6)
Condition unchanged. Revised at 6" scale. (7)
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.
This fairly well preserved camp lies on the E side of Dere Street, and faces the road. It is situated on a gently sloping E-facing spur between the headwaters of the Ridlees and Southhope Burns, 7 km N of the fort at High Rochester (Bremenium). The highest point of the camp, at about 430 m above OD, is at the NW corner, and the ground falls away to about 380 m at the SE corner. The NE, SE and SW angles lie on opposite sides of the spur and the convex slopes mean that there is no point from which the whole of the interior is visible. The result is that the camp occupies a much less advantageous topographical position than its neighbour, Featherwood West, 250 m to the W.
The area enclosed, 15.9 ha (39.4 acres), is almost precisely the same as that at Featherwood West. This, together with the markedly inferior position occupied by the E camp, may suggest that the two were contemporary; it is even possible that each may have held half of a single force. The views to the NE and SE over the Ridlees valley are unobstructed; Kyloe Knowe and Ridlees Cairn, over 1 km away, block the view to the S, but the only serious restriction is immediately to the W, where the S spur of Foulplay Head, carrying Dere Street, forms the horizon. So long as the W camp was also occupied, this flank would have been covered.
Only the two S angles of the camp are intervisible. The N and S sides, however, are both straight and almost exactly parallel. The W and E sides, which cross the axis of the spur, are realigned once and twice respectively. On the W the realignement occurs at the gate which is about 50 m S of a local crest. On the E the line was changed on either side of the gate, at the two local horizons visible from the gate itself.
On the W the rampart is now rather ragged but still stands 0.7 m high externally and 0.5 m high internally. A modern drain occupies the approximate line of the Roman ditch and cuts through the causeway of the central gate. On the other three sides, modern drains also occupy the line of the ditch for much of its course and cut through the defences at frequent intervals. Tank-tracks and the road to Ridleeshope have levelled the earthworks which have also been damaged by shell-bursts. Nevertheless, between the E entrance and the modern road, where the ditch is 0.2 m deep, the internal and external scarps of the rampart still stand to a maximum height of 0.3 m and 1.5 m respectively; the earthworks on the N and S sides also survive to similar dimensions, where best preserved.
Three of the traverses guarding the gates are also well preserved, their mounds surviving up to 0.5 m high internally and 0.9 m externally; the ditch of the W one is still 0.5 m deep. The E traverse has been mutilated by the passage of tanks, and the ditch is only visible as a vegetation mark. The adjacent gate has also been eroded and distorted by the run-off of surface water.
The interior of the camp has suffered from modern drainage, from military activity and from the presence of a large quarry in the NE quarter, just above the crest of the steeper slopes. Immediately to the E of the quarry, a vestigial bank, about 2 m wide and no more than 0.2 m high, runs N, well beyond the Roman defences (RAF 106G/UK 628 4060-1 (see auth 1)). The point of junction is disturbed and the function of tha bank and its chronological relationship to the camp is uncertain. Full information is included in the NMR Archive. (8)
NZ 8134 0581. Roman camp, 1.05km N of Featherwood. Scheduled RSM no. 20918. (9)
Roman camp, 900m NNE of Featherwood, scheduled. (10)
Additional reference. (11) |