Ancient Monuments

History on the Ground

This site is entirely user-supported. See how you can help.

Roman camp 50m south of Elm Bank

A Scheduled Monument in Rowton, Cheshire West and Chester

We don't have any photos of this monument yet. Why don't you be the first to send us one?

Upload Photo »

Approximate Location Map
Large Map »

If Google Street View is available, the image is from the best available vantage point looking, if possible, towards the location of the monument. Where it is not available, the satellite view is shown instead.

Coordinates

Latitude: 53.1699 / 53°10'11"N

Longitude: -2.822 / 2°49'19"W

OS Eastings: 345143.990962

OS Northings: 363954.825491

OS Grid: SJ451639

Mapcode National: GBR 7D.4C0N

Mapcode Global: WH88G.MLC8

Entry Name: Roman camp 50m south of Elm Bank

Scheduled Date: 27 March 1996

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1014115

English Heritage Legacy ID: 25715

County: Cheshire West and Chester

Civil Parish: Rowton

Built-Up Area: Waverton

Traditional County: Cheshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Cheshire

Church of England Parish: Waverton St Peter

Church of England Diocese: Chester

Details

The monument includes a Roman camp located as a crop mark on an aerial
photograph in 1994. The differential growth of crops on the more fertile ditch
fills on this site are clearly visible from the air for the length of three
sides of this rectangular enclosure.
The camp is in a field to the west of the road from Christelton to Whitchurch,
the A41. Part of the area of the camp has been destroyed by the road and the
house foundations on Eggbridge Lane. These areas are not included in the
scheduling. The visible long side of the parallelogram is to the north west
and measures 120m to the corner 20m from road edge. The south western side
measures 80m with a clear entrance gap in the middle 15m wide. The south
eastern side extends for 40m before the road edge cuts it off. The original
camp would have covered an area of 1.2ha making it smaller than many of the
known examples and possibly earlier than most. The camp is situated on a route
to the east of the River Dee from the Roman town at Whitchurch to Chester.
The road hedges and the road surface are excluded from the scheduling although
the ground beneath these features 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.

Although there are no visible upstanding remains, the camp at Waverton
survives as a well defined crop mark and includes indications of its
entrances. Although only two thirds of the fort remain intact there will be
remains of the rampart spread and of an earlier ground surface beneath it.
There will also be traces of the interior arrangements including latrine pits
and any post holes for buildings which may have been erected in the interior.

Source: Historic England

Other nearby scheduled monuments

AncientMonuments.uk is an independent online resource and is not associated with any government department. All government data published here is used under licence. Please do not contact AncientMonuments.uk for any queries related to any individual ancient or schedued monument, planning permission related to scheduled monuments or the scheduling process itself.

AncientMonuments.uk is a Good Stuff website.