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Warcop Roman camp and length of Roman road, 285m south west of Moor House

A Scheduled Monument in Warcop, Cumbria

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Coordinates

Latitude: 54.5453 / 54°32'42"N

Longitude: -2.4016 / 2°24'5"W

OS Eastings: 374116.416532

OS Northings: 516741.57245

OS Grid: NY741167

Mapcode National: GBR CHNW.VF

Mapcode Global: WH937.20NV

Entry Name: Warcop Roman camp and length of Roman road, 285m south west of Moor House

Scheduled Date: 3 January 1973

Last Amended: 18 July 2000

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1019208

English Heritage Legacy ID: 32852

County: Cumbria

Civil Parish: Warcop

Traditional County: Westmorland

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Cumbria

Church of England Parish: Warcop St Columba

Church of England Diocese: Carlisle

Details

The monument includes the buried remains of a Roman camp, together with the
earthworks and buried remains of a 200m length of Roman road running along the
south side of the camp. This formed part of the main Roman road from York to
Carlisle across the Stainmore Pass. The Roman camp is located on the gentle
south-facing slope of a spur which descends gradually to the south east. It
is visible as crop marks on an aerial photograph which highlights features
such as the camp's infilled defensive ditch. It measures approximately 60m
WNW-ESE by 50m NNE-SSW and is more or less rectangular with each corner
rounded in a broad arc. The camp's ditch is interrupted on all sides except
the south west by relatively wide centrally placed entrances. The Roman road
survives as a slight terrace on the hillslope south of the camp and north of
the modern road. Other features visible on the aerial photograph include faint
traces of a possible smaller and earlier Roman camp partly underlying the
larger camp's south western corner, and a curvilinear feature immediately to
the east of the larger camp. These features are also included in the
scheduling.
All modern field boundaries are excluded from the scheduling, although the
ground beneath these is included.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Roman camps are rectangular or sub-rectangular enclosures which were
constructed and used by Roman soldiers either when out on campaign or as
practice camps; most campaign camps were only temporary overnight bases and
few were used for longer periods. They were bounded by a single earthen
rampart and outer ditch and in plan are always straight-sided with rounded
corners. Normally they have between one and four entrances, although as many
as eleven have been recorded. Such entrances were usually centrally placed in
the sides of the camp and were often protected by additional defensive
outworks. Roman camps are found throughout much of England, although most
known examples lie in the midlands and north. Around 140 examples have been
identified and, as one of the various types of defensive enclosure built by
the Roman Army, particularly in hostile upland and frontier areas, they
provide an important insight into Roman military strategy and organisation.
All well-preserved examples are identified as being of national importance.

Roman roads were artificially made-up routes introduced to Britain by the
Roman army from about AD 43. They facilitated both the conquest of the
province and its subsequent administration. Roman roads are highly
representative of the period of Roman administration and provide important
evidence of Roman civil and military engineering skills as well as the pattern
of conquest and settlement.
Despite the absence of upstanding earthworks, aerial photography has
identified the below ground remains of a Roman camp 285m south west of Moor
House and the possible remains of an earlier and smaller Roman camp partly
underlying the larger fort's south western corner. Together with the adjacent
length of Roman road, the monument will contribute to any further study of
Roman military campaigning in northern England.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Welfare, H, Swan, V, Roman Camps in England: The Field Evidence, (1995), 50-1
Welfare, H, Swan, V, Roman Camps in England: The Field Evidence, (1995), 50-1
Other
AP No. DO 085, St Joseph,J.K., (1949)
AP No. DO 085, St Joseph,K., (1949)
AP No. DO 085, St.Joseph,J.K., (1949)

Source: Historic England

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