Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T14:20:05.812Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

‘TURREM ET CASTRUM’: SOME FRESH THOUGHTS ON THE ROMAN FORTLETS OF THE YORKSHIRE COAST

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2022

Andrew White
Andrew White*
Affiliation:
1 Monteagle Drive, Hornby, Lancashire, LA2 8LD, UK. Email: andrewjwhite1@hotmail.co.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper sets out to interpret the archaeological evidence of the five known Roman fortlets on the Yorkshire coast in a novel way, especially as to the structure and appearance of the sites, and how they were used. In particular it examines the use of stylobate blocks and vertical posts, and makes some comparisons with contemporary small forts and burgi on the Rhine and Danube frontiers, and with maritime defences in Wales. It also looks at evidence for barrack accommodation within the enclosure. The evidence comes from a detailed examination of excavation reports and local histories. Finally, it considers the nature and status of the troops that formed the garrisons here.

Keywords

Romanmilitary historymilitary architecturefrontier studiesYorkshire
Type
Research paper
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 102 , September 2022 , pp. 45 - 68
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society of Antiquaries of London

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Primary sources

Ammianus Marcellinus 1972. History, ed J C Rolfe, Loeb edn, Heinemann, LondonGoogle Scholar
Bede 1896. Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, ed C Plummer, Clarendon Press, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Vegetius 2001. Epitome of Military Science, ed N P Milner, Liverpool University Press, LiverpoolGoogle Scholar

Secondary sources

Allason-Jones, L 1999. ‘Women and the Roman army in Britain’, in Goldsworthy, A and Haynes, I (eds), The Roman Army as a Community, 41–51, J Roman Archaeol suppl 34, PortsmouthGoogle Scholar
Băjenaru, C 2010. Minor Fortifications in the Balkan-Danubian Area from Diocletian to Justinian, National Museum of Romanian History, The Center for Roman Military Stud 8, Editura Mega, Cluj-NapocaGoogle Scholar
Bell, T 1998. ‘A Roman signal station at Whitby’, Archaeol J, 155, 303–22CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, T 1999. ‘Reconstructing archaeology from the landscape: GIS, CAD and the Roman signal station at Whitby’, in L Dingwall, Exon, S, Gaffney, V, Laflin, S and van Leusen, M (eds), Archaeology in the Age of the Internet. CAA97. Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology: proceedings of the 25th anniversary conference, University of Birmingham, April 1997, 81-14–81-19, BAR Int Ser 750, Archaeopress, Oxford.Google Scholar
Bidwell, P 2013. Roman Forts in Britain, The History Press, Stroud Google Scholar
Bland, R 2018. Coin Hoards and Hoarding in Roman Britain AD43–c498, BNS Special Pub 13, British Numismatic Society, London Google Scholar
Boyle, S D 1991. ‘Excavations at Hen Waliau, Caernarvon 1952–1985’, Bull Board Celtic Stud, 38, 191–212 Google Scholar
Breeze, D J and Dobson, B 2000. Hadrian’s Wall, 4th edn, Penguin Books, London Google Scholar
Brickstock, R J 2000. ‘The coins’, in P Ottaway et al 2000, 131–40Google Scholar
Brown, R A 1970. English Castles, Chancellor Press, London Google Scholar
Casey, P J 1989. ‘Coin evidence and the end of Roman Wales’, Archaeol J, 146, 320–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Charlton, L 1779. A History of Whitby and of Whitby Abbey, A Ward, YorkGoogle Scholar
Collingwood, R G 1922, ‘The Roman evacuation of Britain’, J Roman Stud, 12, 74–98 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collingwood, R G 1925. The Roman Signal Station on Castle Hill, Scarborough, St Catherine’s Press, LondonGoogle Scholar
Collingwood, R G 1931. ‘The Roman signal station’, in Rowntree, A (ed), History of Scarborough, 40–50, J M Dent & Sons, London Google Scholar
Collingwood, R G and Taylor, M V 1924. ‘Roman Britain in 1924’, J Roman Stud, 14, 206–51Google Scholar
Collingwood, R G and Wright, R P 1965. The Roman Inscriptions of Britain, Vol 1, Clarendon Press, Oxford Google Scholar
Collins, R 2017. ‘Decline, collapse or transformation? The case for the northern frontier of Britannia’, in N Roymans, Heeren, S and de Clercq, W (eds), Social Dynamics in the North West Frontiers of the Late Roman Empire: beyond decline or transformation, 203–20, Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam Google Scholar
Cool, H E M 2000. ‘The Roman finds’, in Ottaway et al 2000, 122–31Google Scholar
Cortis, W S 1858. Twenty-sixth Report of the Scarborough Philosophical and Archaeological Society, Scarborough Phil Archaeol Soc, ScarboroughGoogle Scholar
Crew, P 1981. ‘Holyhead Mountain (SH21858295)’, Archaeol in Wales, 21, 35–6Google Scholar
Dobney, K, Jacques, D, Carrott, J, Hall, A, Issitt, M and Large, F 2000. ‘Biological remains’, in Ottaway et al 2000, 148–82Google Scholar
Donaldson, G H 1988. ‘Signalling communications and the Roman Imperial Army’, Britannia, 19, 349–56CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drack, W and Fellman, R 1988. Die Römer in der Schweiz, Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart Google Scholar
Eckardt, H, Müldner, G and Speed, G 2015. ‘The late Roman field army in northern Britain? Mobility, material culture and multi-isotope analysis at Scorton (North Yorks)’, Britannia, 46, 191–223 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elton, H 1996. Warfare in Roman Europe AD 350–425, Oxford University Press, Oxford Google Scholar
Gróf, P and Gróh, D 1999. ‘Spätrömischer Wachtturm und Statuenfund zu Visegrad-Lepence’, Folia Archaeologica, 47, 103–16Google Scholar
Häseli, V and Schwarz, P-A 2020. ‘Neue Forschungen zum spätantiken Hochrhein-Limes im Kanton Aargau IV. Die Kleinfestung Wallbach-Stelli und andere spätantike Wehranlagen in Wallbach’, Jarhresbericht der Gesellschaft Pro Vindonissa, 2019, 65–87 Google Scholar
Haverfield, F 1912. ‘Notes on the Roman coast defences of Britain, especially in Yorkshire’, J Roman Stud, 2, 201–14Google Scholar
Hayfield, C and Pacitto, A 2005. ‘Excavation of the Great Hall or “Kyngeshalle” at Scarborough Castle, North Yorkshire’, Yorks Archaeol J, 77, 31–92 Google Scholar
Hind, J F G 2005. ‘The watchtowers and fortlets on the North Yorkshire coast (turres et castra)’, Yorks Archaeol J, 77, 17–24 Google Scholar
Hinz, H 1968. ‘Ausgrabung eines Spätrömischen Burgus in Asperden, Kreis Kleve’, Beiträge zur Archäologie des römischen Rheinlandes, Rheinische Ausgrabungen, 3, 167–212 Google Scholar
Hopewell, D 2013. ‘Carmel Head – Pen Bryn-yr-Eglwys SH29309243’, Archaeol Wales, 54, 224–6Google Scholar
Hopewell, D 2018. ‘Roman Anglesey: recent discoveries’, Britannia, 49, 313–22CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hornsby, W and Laverick, J D 1932. ‘The Roman signal station at Goldsborough, near Whitby’, Archaeol J, 89, 203–19CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hornsby, W and Stanton, R 1912. ‘The Roman fort at Huntcliff, near Saltburn’, J Roman Stud, 2, 215–32CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, S 2004. Hadrian’s Wall, B T Batsford, London Google ScholarPubMed
Johnson, S 1980. Later Roman Britain, Granada, St Albans Google Scholar
Johnston, D E (ed) 1977. The Saxon Shore, CBA Res Rep 18, Council for British Archaeology, London Google Scholar
Knight, R 2014. Britain against Napoleon: the organisation of victory 1793–1815, Penguin, London Google Scholar
Krause, G 1974. ‘Ein Spätrömischer Burgus von Moers-Asberg am Niederrhein’, Quellenschriften zur Westdeutschen Vor-und-Frühgeschichte, 9, 115–64Google Scholar
Mackensen, M 2018. ‘Organisation and development of the late Roman frontier in the provinces of Raetia Prima and Secunda (c AD 270–300–450)’, in Sommer, C S and Matešić, S (eds), Beiträge zum Welterbe Limes: 23rd international congress of Roman studies, Ingolstadt 2015, 47–68, Nünnerich-Asmus Verlag, MainzGoogle Scholar
Mason, D J P 2003. Roman Britain and the Roman Navy, Tempus, Stroud Google Scholar
Middleton, R M 1885. ‘On some vestiges of Roman occupation between West Hartlepool and Seaton Carew’, Archaeologia Aeliana , Ser 2, 10, 103–14Google Scholar
Monaghan, J 2011. ‘The Nunnery, Alderney’s Roman fort?’, Current Archaeol, 261, 28–33 Google Scholar
Ottaway, P, Brickstock, R, Carrott, J, Cool, H E M, Dobney, K, Gajowski, R, Garside-Neville, S, Gaunt, G D, Hall, A, Issitt, M, Jaques, D, Large, F and Monaghan, J 2000. ‘Excavations on the site of the Roman signal station at Carr Naze, Filey, 1993–4’, Archaeol J, 157, 79–199 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petrikovits, H von 1971. ‘Fortifications in the north-western Roman empire from the third to the fifth centuries’, J Roman Stud, 61, 178–218 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pop-Lazić, S and Rummel, C 2020. ‘Characteristics of the late Roman fortifications on the Middle Danube’, in Popović, I and Petković, S (eds), Illyricum Romanum: studiola in honorem Miloje Vasić, 224–38, Alta Nova, Belgrade Google Scholar
Ramm, H 1978. The Parisi: peoples of Roman Britain, Duckworth, London Google Scholar
Schönberger, H 1969. ‘The Roman frontier in Germany: an archaeological survey’, J Roman Stud, 59, 144–97CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shotter, D C A 1999. ‘Roman coins in Whitby Museum’, Yorks Archaeol J, 71, 67–8Google Scholar
Shotter, D and White, A 1990. Roman Fort and Town of Lancaster, Centre for North-West Regional Studies, University of Lancaster, Lancaster Google Scholar
Southern, F 1990. ‘Signals versus illumination on Roman frontiers’, Britannia, 21, 233–42Google Scholar
Symonds, M 2015. ‘Fourth-century fortlets in Britain: sophisticated systems or desperate measures?’, in R Collins, Symonds, M and Weber, M (eds), Roman Military Architecture on the Frontiers: armies and their architecture in late antiquity, 46–61, Oxbow, Oxford Google Scholar
Symonds, M 2018. Protecting the Roman Empire: fortlets, frontiers and the quest for post-conquest security, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Google Scholar
Taylor, A J 1974. The King’s Works in Wales 1277–1330, HMSO, London Google Scholar
Taylor, M V and Collingwood, R G 1921. ‘Roman Britain in 1921 and 1922’, J Roman Stud, 11, 200–44Google Scholar
Taylor, M V and Collingwood, R G 1922. ‘Roman Britain in 1923’, J Roman Stud, 12, 240–87Google Scholar
Turk, S 2011–12. ‘The defensive system of the late Roman limes between Germania Secunda and Britannia’, unpublished thesis, Universitá Ca’Foscari, VeneziaGoogle Scholar
Ward, J 1901. ‘Cardiff Castle: its Roman origins’, Archaelogia, 57(2), 335–52CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, P R 1991. ‘Aspects of the Yorkshire signal stations’, in Maxfield, V A and Dobson, M J (eds), Roman Frontier Studies 1989: proceedings of the XVth international congress on Roman frontier studies, 142–7, University of Exeter Press, Exeter Google Scholar
Young, G 1817. A History of Whitby and Streoneshalh Abbey, Vol 2, Clark and Medd, Whitby Google Scholar