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Roman York: Excavations in 1955

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2012

H. G. Ramm
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Extract

The excavation described below was undertaken by the writer on behalf of the Ministry of Works and the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, but the present article is his own sole responsibility.

The defences of the Legionary Fortress at York were first scientifically examined by the late S. N. Miller in 1925–8 and the report on the work in 1925–7 appeared in this Journal. As a result of his work we have a satisfactory framework into which to fit subsequent and previous discoveries. The structural sequence arrived at by Miller can be briefly summarized as follows:—

Period 1. A campaigning base deduced by Miller from occupation earth in what he considered to be part of the clay rampart of Period 2 and dated by him to the beginning of the governorship of Petillius Cerialis (A.D. 71–4).

Period 2. The first defences of which Miller recognized structural evidence consisted of a massive rampart of clay, dated by him to the close of the governorship of Cerialis.

Period 3. In the early part of the second century stone gates and towers were built and linked by a stone wall. The south-east gate was built in A.D. 108–9, but some work was still being done in Hadrian's reign. The clay bank of Period 2 remained behind the stone wall.

Period 4. At the end of the second century there was an extensive restoration under Severus. A new stone wall was built, at any rate on the south-east side, immediately behind the wall of Period 2 which was completely removed except for the foundations.

Period 5. At the turn of the third and fourth centuries the south-west and north-west sides and part of the north-east side were reconstructed, with projecting multangular corner and interval towers on the river front (fig. 9).

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Roman Studies , Volume 46 , Issue 1-2 , November 1956 , pp. 76 - 90
Copyright
Copyright © H. G. Ramm 1956. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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References

1 I wish to thank the Royal Commission, for permission to publish this paper most of the facts for which were gathered in the course of my duties as a member of its investigating staff. I should also like to thank the owners of the site, the Queen's College, Oxford, and the contractors for facilities offered.

2 JRS xv, 176; XVIII, 61.

3 ibid., xv, 192; XVIII, 98–9.

4 ibid., XVIII, 78–86.

5 Building VI, ibid., XVIII, 90–4.

6 CIL VII, 241

7 For the date of the road out of the SW gate see Yorks Archit. and York Arch. Soc. Proc., 1953–54, II. For finds alongside the road out of the NW gate, ibid., 34.

8 For a series of representative fortress plans see Nash-Williams, The Roman Frontier in Wales (1954), fig. 49 opposite p. 112.

9 Yorkshire Gazette, 8th June, 1861. A brief summary is in Brit. Arch. Assoc. Journ., n.s., XXXIII, 236.

10 JRS xv, pl. xxvi.

11 Claudius II (A.D. 268–270), antoninianus; obv. [IMP C CLA] VDIVS AVG radiate, cuirassed, bust to r.; rev. [LIB] ERT AV [G] Libertas standing l., holding pileus and cornucopiae. Mint of Rome. Mattingly & Sydenham 62.

12 JRS xv, 136.

13 ibid., XVIII, 78.

14 G. Benson, York, part 11, fig. 56, opp. p. 160.

15 JRS xv, 187, section G–H.

16 ibid., xv, 180.

17 The width of the bank is derived from Miller's section C–D. But it is not certain that all his lower clay (D) belongs to this first bank.

18 JRS xv, 183.

18a Since this report went to the press an important excavation by L. P. Wenham in the intervallum area has added new information. His trench, 40 yds. south-east of mine (fig. 9), did not reach the wall but uncovered the rear of the various features found by me (see Postscript below, p. 89). The new evidence confirms the dimensions and dating given to these features above with one important exception. A considerable quantity of occupation debris found in the rear of the Phase I bank implies a previous occupation of the site. Therefore this bank is later than Cerialis or Cerialis brought the Ninth Legion to an already occupied site.

19 ibid., xv, 181, fig. 95.

20 ibid., xv, 187.

21 ibid., XVIII, 87.

22 The foundations, as Miller remarked, were laid unusually deep.

23 Yorks. Phil. Soc. Report for 1915.

24 JRS XVIII, 78.

25 ibid., xv, 188.

26 ibid., XVIII, 62.

27 ibid., xv, 188.

28 ibid., xv, 176 f.

29 ibid., xv, 186 f.

30 ibid., pl. xxvii, 2.

31 ibid., XVIII, 83.

32 ibid., xv, 186 f.

33 ibid., XXXVII, 180.

34 ibid., XXXIX, 100.

35 ibid., XVIII, 84.

36 The plan of the SW gate as preserved in chance finds has certain features that are most easily explained on the assumption that the remains belong to more than one period. Benson, York, III, 160 summarizes the previous finds but his plan is only accurate for his own discoveries. For the earlier finds see the 1852, 5 ft. = I in. O.S. plan of York.

37 JRS XVIII, 78.

38 I wish to thank the Keeper for permission to reproduce the drawing here.

39 The sections are numbered as in Miller's plan, JRS XVIII, pl. xi.

40 ibid., XVIII, 84.

41 ibid., XVIII, 87.

42 Yorks. Phil. Soc. Rep. for 1909, 41.

43 Unpublished; material in Yorks Museum.

44 Wellbeloved, Eburacum (1842), pl. i.

45 W. Hargrove, New Guide (1838), 52.

46 JRS XVIII, 63, section D.

47 ibid., xv, pl. xxvii, 2.

48 Sample II comes from the upper and Sample I from the lower wall.

49 Report on the excavation is to appear in the forthcoming Volume (Part 154) of the Yorks. Arch. Journ.