Osmanthorpe Roman Fort |
| Hob Uid: 320222 | |
Location :
Nottinghamshire
Newark and Sherwood
Edingley
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| Grid Ref : SK6785056400 |
| Summary : The buried remains of Osmanthorpe Roman vexillation fortress. The site is situated on the summit of a hill and encloses the top and part of the northern side of the hill on the south side of the valley of the River Greet. No upstanding earthworks survive but the buried remains of the monument show clearly as crop marks on aerial photographs. The fortress is delimitated by a double ditch, although the remains of a third ditch are evident on the south and west sides. The fort is almost rectangular in plan, although the north west corner is not a right angle. This is because the defensive ditches follow the contour of a steep natural slope giving the effect of cutting off the corner of the fortress. Internally the fortress measures 275 metres north to south and 335 metres east to west, enclosing an area of 8.8 hectares. Outside the defences on the north, east and south sides are four lengths of ditch with overlapping ends which are comparable to features identified at other vexillation fortresses and which are interpreted as defensive outworks. The ditches terminate at the edge of the north and south gates of the fortress but do not appear to respect the east gate. Within the defended area two other parallel, linear crop marks are visible. These may respect another smaller fort on the same site but the relationship of these with the main defences is difficult to determine. The fortress would have been served by what is now known as Lower Kirklington Road which, aligned with the southern gate, runs from the south west corner of the fort. This is believed to be a Roman road which runs in a straight line towards the Roman site of Ad Pontem on the Fosse Way. Scheduled. |
More information : (SK 67855640: sited from plan) Cropmarks of three sides of a large double-ditched vexillation fortress, enclosing the top and the northern side of a hill (see illustration). The distance between the inner ditches of the north and south sides is 280 metres, but if a gap in the south side can be taken as a gate on the axis of the fort, the eastwest distance would be about 300 metres, and the internal area about 8ha or 20 acres. Two parallel cropmarks within the fort may indicate another fort. Three ditches with overlapping ends outside the east and south sides, are similar to those at the vexillation fort at Newton-on-Trent (SK 87 SW 8). They have been interpreted as a temporary enclosure of earlier date than the fort, but there is no evidence to support this. (Nothing visible on RAF or OS air photographs). (1)
Investigation of a ditch at the S edge of the camp. Formerly 7m deep below the field to the N., it was 3m below road to the D and reduced to 0.5m to the W. The deeper end had been gradually filled with rubbish since 1975. (2)
Field-walking in the eastern field yielded a bronze saucepan handle and 2 sherds of Samian, one Claudian and one pre-Flavian. Some trial-trenching by an undergraduate of the Univ. of Durham has also been reported. (3)
Discussion and comparisons. (4)
Further ref (5)
Scheduled. For the designation record of this site please see The National Heritage List for England. (6-7)
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