Monument record MDO37232 - Roman camp west of East Farm, Bradford Abbas

A Roman camp is visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs. The camp is defined on three sides by 4m wide ditches and has a south-west facing entrance. The northern end of the camp is not visible and the known extents of the camp measure 265m NW-SE and at least 350m NE-SW. The camp is situated on a south-west facing slope between 85m and 95m above Ordnance Datum just below the crest of a knoll 109m high. It is not clear if the camp ever extended to near the crest of this knoll and if it did, it would be a relatively large and long shape compared to other Roman camps in England. The north-west facing side of the camp overlooks a steep sided, mostly N-S oriented, dry valley which extends down to the river Yeo. The river Yeo curves around the higher ground on which the camp is situated on all but the eastern side.

A Roman camp is visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs. The camp is defined on three sides by 4m wide ditches and has a south-west facing entrance. The northern end of the camp is not visible and the known extents of the camp measure 265m NW-SE and at least 350m NE-SW. The camp extends over four modern fields all of which have been in varied agricultural use since the 1940s, including pasture, arable and pig farming. The southern parts of the camp have been recorded a number of times on aerial photographs but a possible northern portion of the north-west facing side has only been recorded once in 2013 when it appears as an amorphous, apparently discontinuous, ditch. A linear feature, visible as a dark segmented cropmark and as a low earthwork on different aerial photographs, could be mistaken for a northern side of the camp but this corresponds with the location of an old field boundary to the north-west of East Farm. This field boundary is visible on old maps. The curving nature of the boundary and it's orientation to camp suggest that it is unlikely that it is following the line of the northern end of the camp. A, probably medieval or post medieval, hollow way is visible as cropmarks crossing the western side of the camp and extends westwards down a steep slope.

There are numerous geological cropmarks in the vicinity of the camp - some in the fields to the north-west of East Farm in particular have the appearance of a network of boundaries - it is possible that these may be masking some archaeological features but on present evidence (to 2013) none appear convincing as man-made features.

The camp is centred at ST 5848 1537 and is situated on a south-west facing slope between 85m and 95m above Ordnance Datum just below the crest of a knoll 109m high. It is not clear if the camp ever extended to near the crest of this knoll and if it did, it would be a relatively large and long shape compared to other Roman camps in England. The north-west facing side of the camp overlooks a steep sided, mostly N-S oriented, dry valley which extends down to the river Yeo. The river Yeo curves around the higher ground on which the camp is situated on all but the eastern side.

The camp and environs were surveyed and mapped, at 1:2500 scale. All available aerial photographs of this area were examined, including those from the NMR, online sources, and the local HER.
<1>

National Record of the Historic Environment, 1524583 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<1> Winton, H and Grady, D, 2013, A Roman Camp at Bradford Abbas, Dorset. Aerial Investigation and Mapping (Unpublished document). SDO14940.

<1.1> Ordnance Survey, 14-JUN-1970, NMR OS/70216 345-346 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18540.

<1.2> Welfare, H, and Swan, V, 1995, Roman Camps in England: the Field Archaeology (Monograph). SDO18541.

<1.3> Next Perspectives, 01-JUL-2009, Next Perspectives PGA Tile Ref: ST5815 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18545.

<1.4> 28-JUN-2010, NMR ST5815/1-11 (26650/1-11) (Aerial Photograph). SDO18544.

<1.5> English Heritage, 16-JUL-2013, EH 27753/1-2, 7-9 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18542.

<1.6> English Heritage, 21-JUL-2013, EH 27755/19-32 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18543.

<1.7> Historic England, Externally held archive: Bradford Abbas Roman Camp and Environs Air Photograph Interpretation (Digital archive). SDO17301.

Record last edited

Sep 5 2024 11:52AM