Adel lay on the Roman road between Eboracum (York) and Olicana (Ilkley), at a crossing point on a tributary of the River Aire roughly 5 miles north-west of Leeds. The site is generally interpreted as a small fort or fortlet with an associated roadside vicus, most likely active from the late 1st through the 2nd century AD as part of the network of garrison posts securing the Pennine foothills of Brigantian territory; occupation evidence extends into the later Roman period in the civilian settlement.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Its primary role was to police and supply traffic on the trans-Pennine route linking the legionary fortress at York with the auxiliary fort at Ilkley, forming part of the chain of small posts (with Newton Kyme and Tadcaster) that consolidated Roman control of West Yorkshire.
No fort defences have been securely excavated, and Adel's military identity rests largely on chance finds — including altars, inscribed stones, tile, coins and pottery recovered around Adel church and Eccup since the 18th and 19th centuries — together with antiquarian reports of structural remains. Most notable among the epigraphic finds is a dedication slab and altars suggesting the presence of a garrison or a religious focus, though the precise plan and dating of any military installation here remain unresolved.
Adel lay on the Roman road between Eboracum (York) and Olicana (Ilkley), at a crossing point on a tributary of the River Aire roughly 5 miles north-west of Leeds. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Adel is classified as a Roman fort — a military site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Roman period native settlement in Poolscar Wood, 350m south of Stubbings Farm (6.6 km), Roman period native settlement in Danefield Wood, 490m south west of Stubbings Farm (6.8 km), Dalton Parlours Roman villa and Iron Age settlement (13 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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