The Matthew Arnold School site lies on the south-western edge of Roman Staines (Pontibus), a small town and river crossing on the road from London (Londinium) to Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum). The feature identified here is interpreted as a temporary or marching camp rather than a permanent fort, likely associated with the early Roman military presence in the Thames valley during the conquest period or its immediate aftermath (mid-1st century AD).
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Staines was a strategically important crossing of the Thames where the road bridged the river, and any military installation here would have helped secure this junction and the approach to London. A camp at this location adds to growing evidence that the Roman army maintained a presence at the Pontibus crossing well beyond the initial advance westward.
Investigations in the area of the school playing field have produced ditch features and limited Roman material consistent with a military enclosure, though the camp's full plan, dimensions and dating remain poorly defined in published literature. Compared with the well-documented civilian occupation of central Staines (excavated extensively at Friends' Burial Ground, the High Street and elsewhere), the military component on the town's periphery is comparatively under-published, and its precise character should be regarded as provisional.
The Matthew Arnold School site lies on the south-western edge of Roman Staines (Pontibus), a small town and river crossing on the road from London (Londinium) to Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum). It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a military camp site from the Roman period in Britain.
Roman camp, Matthew Arnold School's playing field, Staines is classified as a Roman military camp — 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 Pontes (2 km), Romano-British site 1000yds (910m) W of East Bedfont parish church (3.8 km), Untitled (8.4 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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Research the area around Roman camp, Matthew Arnold School's playing field, Staines