Calstock Roman fort is a mid-1st to early 2nd century AD auxiliary fort situated on a spur above the River Tamar in east Cornwall, discovered in 2007 during geophysical survey associated with a community archaeology project at St Andrew's churchyard. The fort enclosed approximately 2.2 hectares and was occupied from around AD 50–80, making it one of the very few confirmed Roman military installations in Cornwall, alongside Nanstallon.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Its location adjacent to known silver-lead deposits at Calstock strongly suggests a role in controlling and exploiting metal resources in the Tamar valley, part of the early Flavian extension of Roman economic and military interests into the south-western peninsula. The discovery substantially revised understanding of Roman military penetration west of Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum), demonstrating a more developed presence than previously recognised.
Geophysics and subsequent excavations by the University of Exeter revealed standard playing-card fort defences with multiple ditches, internal timber buildings, and evidence including hearths and metalworking debris pointing to associated industrial activity, with radiocarbon and ceramic dating supporting a relatively short-lived occupation. Post-Roman medieval activity around the church has truncated parts of the interior, but the fort plan is well preserved in the geophysical record.
Calstock Roman fort is a mid-1st to early 2nd century AD auxiliary fort situated on a spur above the River Tamar in east Cornwall, discovered in 2007 during geophysical survey associated with a community archaeology project at St Andrew's churchyard. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Calstock Roman fort 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's Cross 50m west of the church (12.4 km), Mount Batten: prehistoric and Romano-British settlement (16.8 km), Untitled (20.8 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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