MONUMENT NO. 70689

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Possible Roman Fort

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(SJ 5154 2705) Ancient Earthwork (NR) (1)

Trench Hall Banks, the remains of a rectangular camp, (2) which
J R W Whitfield thought was probably a cattle enclosure; Houghton,
(4) on preliminary examination, tentatively concludes it is a
Roman fort.

(Not shown on Roman Britain (3rd Edn)) (2-4)

The earthwork, which is grass covered, has been almost ploughed
out though it is still traceable as a scarp 13.0m long and up
to 0.7m high. It occupies part of a plateau, but its age and
purpose could not be determined. (5)

Remains visible. (6)

The interior is flat and featureless and the banks are ploughed
down and much damaged, and no certain evidence of an entrance is
visible from the ground, though on the northwest and northeast
traces of a ditch are to be seen.

A surface scatter of post-Medieval material, and one sherd of
Medieval (?) pottery were found.

The regularity of the site may favour its interpretation as a
Roman fort, but it could equally be a Medieval manor house site.
It is impossible to tell in its present eroded condition. (7)

The earthwork is not shown, but the field is called Trench
Castlesteade in 1631. A house is shown in perspective at
SJ 51502709 (near the north corner of the earthwork), with two
smaller buildings to the west (SJ 51382712 and SJ 51442711).
The adjacent field to the north west is called Wall Meadow.
(There is a spring in the field (OS 1:2500) is it 'Well'Meadow?). (8)

This earthwork occupies the NE end of a low but prominent ridge
which dominates the gently undulating Roden valley. It is not
however, situated on the highest point but on a slight terrace a
little below it, but above steeper slopes into the valley floor.

The field is regularly ploughed and the work has been reduced
to a scarp with a maximum height of 0.9m at the west corner;
there is no dateable slope in the middle of the wouth-west side
which may indicate an entrance. There are faint traces of a
ditch at the west corner.

The earthwork has the form of a parallelogram and measures
106.0m in length from north-west to south-east by 54.0m
transversely. The corners are rounded and the west corner has a
radius of about 10.0m. The interior is smooth and there are no
indications of the buildings shown in 1631. The field name Trench
Castlesteade suggests a greater antiquity than a Medieval manor
house site, but firmer evidence to support a Roman date is
wanting.

Surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD. (9)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1954

( 2) General reference

V C H Salop 1 1908 382 Plan (J C Wall & E A Downman)

( 3) Annotated Record Map

Corr 6" (L F Chitty 8.2.49)

( 4) General reference

Shropshire Newsletter 10 Feb 1960 3 (A W J Houghton)

( 5) Field Investigators Comments

F1 JR 05-FEB-62

( 6a) Aerial photograph

AP (OS/65/6 057-8 28.3.65)

( 6) Oral information, correspondence (not archived) or staff comments

( 7) General reference

Salop Sites and Mons Record 1136 (I Burrow 28.3.78)

( 8) General reference

MS Map (Salop CRO, Sutherland Colln 972/232 (1631))

( 9) Field Investigators Comments

F2 DJC 02-OCT-79

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