Old Burrow is a small early Roman fortlet perched on a high coastal hilltop on Exmoor, North Devon, overlooking the Bristol Channel toward South Wales. It is one of a pair of short-lived signal/watch stations on this stretch of coast (alongside Martinhoe, c.5 km to the west), occupied briefly in the Claudio-Neronian period, probably c. AD 48–52, and was apparently superseded by Martinhoe rather than the two being held simultaneously.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The site formed part of the Roman military response to the Silures across the Channel during the campaigns of Ostorius Scapula and his successors, functioning as a lookout post to monitor maritime movement and signal back to forces on the Severn shore. It is one of the clearest examples in Britain of a Roman coastal observation post tied to a specific, short-lived strategic problem.
Excavations by Lady (Aileen) Fox and W. Ravenhill in 1962–63 revealed a characteristic plan: an outer earthwork enclosing an inner square ditched enclosure with a timber gateway, containing hearths and tent-lines rather than permanent barracks, consistent with occupation by a small detachment (perhaps a centuria) living under leather. Finds were sparse — limited coarse pottery and a little metalwork — confirming both the brevity of occupation and the absence of any civilian or longer-term activity.
Old Burrow is a small early Roman fortlet perched on a high coastal hilltop on Exmoor, North Devon, overlooking the Bristol Channel toward South Wales. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fortlet site from the Roman period in Britain.
Old Burrow is classified as a Roman fortlet — 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 Martinhoe (12.5 km), Llantwit Major (26.7 km), Churchyard cross 20m south of Romansleigh church (29.4 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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