Advice on this roman camp

[Colin.b]

Hi Ive got this roman camp on my permission, Unfortunately not had much luck at it tho. I was just wondering if anyone knows what the thin strip that ive highlighted means at the corner of the camp. Does it mean the entrance to the camp. Thanks

[Mattockswinga]

When you say you've not had much luck at it, you're not actually detecting on/in it are you? Only those pink areas look like scheduled monument shape files to me...

[Colin.b]

When you say you've not had much luck at it, you're not actually detecting on/in it are you? Only those pink areas look like scheduled monument shape files to me...

Its not scheduled but thanks for your concern.

[Sven@1970]

It is impossible to deduce the perimeter of a Roman camp from that map, in theory the 4 entrance gates were positioned in the middle of one side, and then there was a system of ditches that surrounded the structure.
Who knows if that road that appears is contemporary or later.
Try with Google maps or Lidar

[Macsen Wledig]

It is impossible to deduce the perimeter of a Roman camp from that map, in theory the 4 entrance gates were positioned in the middle of one side, and then there was a system of ditches that surrounded the structure.
Who knows if that road that appears is contemporary or later.
Try with Google maps or Lidar

Sometimes "Roman camps" like Roman roads are tentatively identified so but not necessarily so. Unless there is some doubt it seems odd that this Roman camp would be unscheduled.
I know on the Yorks/Lancs border around Craven there are a series of Roman camps that don't fit the usually uniformed layout of a Roman camp. Rather than the normal playing card shape these are small square fortifications with a couple of ditches surrounding. Back in the 1940's excavations where carried out on one of these fortlets and a fourth century items recovered including a sword and it is thought that the camp is late Romano British.
What ive always found odd about these though is that only one of the square structures has been designated Romano British where as the other structures that are pretty much exactly the same size and shape have been designated by those "experts" as medieval and as far as I know no kind of archaeological work has been carried out on them.

[Colin.b]

It is impossible to deduce the perimeter of a Roman camp from that map, in theory the 4 entrance gates were positioned in the middle of one side, and then there was a system of ditches that surrounded the structure.
Who knows if that road that appears is contemporary or later.
Try with Google maps or Lidar

Thanks for that, that is a roman road that runs through the camp. It was just that thin strip right on the corner that I wasn't sure about.

[Sven@1970]

Sometimes "Roman camps" like Roman roads are....

Very interesting, thanks, actually I spoke of theory but it is clear that in practice there were variations linked to a strategic adaptation to the conditions of the terrain and the forces available.
We hope that over time archaeologists will be able to broaden their research and give a date to the various traces of camps.

[Colin.b]

Sometimes "Roman camps" like Roman roads are tentatively identified so but not necessarily so. Unless there is some doubt it seems odd that this Roman camp would be unscheduled.
I know on the Yorks/Lancs border around Craven there are a series of Roman camps that don't fit the usually uniformed layout of a Roman camp. Rather than the normal playing card shape these are small square fortifications with a couple of ditches surrounding. Back in the 1940's excavations where carried out on one of these fortlets and a fourth century items recovered including a sword and it is thought that the camp is late Romano British.
What ive always found odd about these though is that only one of the square structures has been designated Romano British where as the other structures that are pretty much exactly the same size and shape have been designated by those "experts" as medieval and as far as I know no kind of archaeological work has been carried out on them.

Thanks Macsen Wledig. It most definitely is not scheduled and it states that it is a roman camp. No idea why it is not scheduled tho. Pretty sure it has the shape of a common temporary roman camp tho.

[william]

if roman road it's unlikely that the small pink bit is entrance to camp ...the road goes through the middle

[LuckyB]

Not sure which website you are using but those pink areas are “Historic Environment Records or HERs (sometimes referred to as Sites and Monuments Records, SMRs) are the records curated by, or on behalf of, Scottish local authorities. These records are the primary source of information for all developer-funded and commercial archaeology in Scotland. They are also used for other purposes, such as for research, education and land management. All HERs generate their own data, but also draw information from a number of sources, including the HES Canmore Database.”

As you correctly state, this one is not scheduled, but scheduled sites are a subset of HER data, so everyone has to be a wee bit careful when using the HER data to identify sites of detecting interest.

The particular one you are looking at is described as “A watching brief was required to monitor the excavation of a 15m long foundation trench on the site of a possible Roman road. No significant archaeological features were identified. Report to be lodged with Scottish Borders SMR and the NMRS.” This was done in 2003 although it looks longer than 15m? maybe a typo and it is meant to be 150m? Sounds like the county archaeologist was aware of the camp and put a condition on a planning application, the result of which generated the record even though nothing specific was found. Hence why it’s always worth doing a bit of further digging before using these records to base your day’s detecting on.

If I were you, I’d concentrate my efforts on the route of the road within the camp and where it crosses the camp perimeters (these would have been the two main entrances) or look at the rectangular blob near where your pin is dropped as this is thought to be an annexe to the camp. As I understand it these camps would mainly be used for an overnight stop for troops using the road, they would have provided a good location with some ditches and mounds which could be more easily defended in the event of a surprise attack by the locals. They would not have been permanently inhabited, so finds may be few and far between and limited to casual losses. I have no doubt this is Roman though, this particular camp and the road are well documented in the archaeological record.

PM me if you want any more info.

Good luck