Monument record MDO6031 - Roman fort at Crab Farm, Shapwick

A Roman multi-vallate (possibly tri-vallate) military fort set obliquely on the line of the Roman road from Badbury Rings to Dorchester (Durnovaria), some 1.2 kilometres south west of Badbury Rings. The site of the Roman fort is visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs and was digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour Catchment AI&M Project.

Roman fort at Shapwick discovered from Boyden air photograph. The fort is situated at ST 948023 and is seen on the photograph as a multiple-ditched rectilinear enclosure with straight sides and rounded corners. It is slightly asymmetrical with long sides measuring overall 690 and 620 ft and with a width of 520 ft to give an area within the ditches of some 6 acres. The defence system includes three ditches, except on the NE, where only the two inner ditches appear. The evidence from pottery picked up on the ground in August 1975 confirms a mid 1st century date for the fort.

A polygonal enclosure, of under 1/2 acre, which adjoins the NE side of the fort is probably an annexe.

The track of the Badbury to Dorchester Roman Road (RR 4c), which crosses the fort, post-dates it.

ST 948023. Probable Roman fort, area about 3ha. Playing card shape, rounded corners, triple ditched but with no visible entrances or recognisably Roman interior works; cut diagonally by Roman road. Partly overlies poorly defined ovoid enclosure of about 4 acres. (9-10)

The monument was identified in 1975 from aerial photographs (NMR ST9402/3-6), but is also visible on aerial photographs taken in 1946 (RAF CPE/UK/1934:1106), where the remains of two probable ramparts can be seen as spread chalky soil marks.
The site of the Roman fort is visible as cropmark on aerial photographs [4-6] and was digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour Catchment AI&M Project. The trivallate defensive ditches are visible on all but the south-east side. A bank is visible on lidar imagery [7] alongside the outer ditch on the north east side which may be contemporary with the fort. Traces of internal features are also visible

<1> Papworth, M, 2001, Crab Farm, Shapwick: Survey of Iron Age & Romano-British settlement features (Unpublished document). SDO14689.

<2> Papworth, M, 1994, Shapwick Parish, Kingston Lacy Estate, Wessex Region (Unpublished document). SDO14228.

A 1st century Roman fort was identified in 1975 from aerial photographs NMR ST9402/3-6 but is visible on photos taken in 1946 RAF CPE/UK/1934:1106 where the remains of two ramparts can be seen as spread chalky soil marks. From this site can be seen the hill forts of Spetisbury and Badbury. The Roman fort was probably built to prevent any resistance by Durotrigian tribesmen in the area and to guard the crossing of the River Stour. Aligned north-east to south-west the fort is approximately 250m long by 200m wide. Field (1976) identified three ditches on all sides of the fort except the north-east where only two can be seen. Only one causeway across this defensive system is visible on air photographs and this is sited at the south-west corner. Field (1976) considers that there were originally three entrances. The Roman road 112,308 is later than the fort and cuts across the ramparts just south of the causeway. Field refers to 1st century pottery from the site but during the present survey colour coated wares from 3rd and 4th centuries have been collected (ST947023). This indicates that there was a settlement on the site after the fort went out of use (see 112,481). A geophysical survey of two hectares of the fort shows that there has been dense occupation within the fort. It is likely that there was an Iron Age site here before the fort was built.

<3> Shiel, D, 1996, Crab Farm III (Unpublished document). SDO17252.

<4> J R Boyden, 02-JUL-1976, JRB 3096/5 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18326.

<5> Historic England Archive, 23-APR-2015, HEA 29562/025 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18327.

<6> Historic England Archive, 23-APR-2015, HEA 29562/008 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18328.

<7> Environment Agency, 16-NOV-2021, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO18034.

<8> GREENBACK List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, Form 5 March 1977 (Scheduling record). SDO19706.

<9> Bowen, H C, 1991, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke: Inventory, 29 (Monograph). SDO14864.

<10> Bowen, H C, 1990, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke, 44 (Monograph). SWX800.

<11> Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, 1976, Britannia: a journal of Romano-British and kindred studies 7, 280-283 (Serial). SDO16917.

<12> National Record of the Historic Environment (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 22 2025 3:51PM