The Roman camp on Bootham Stray lies on the open common land north of York (Eboracum), and is one of several temporary marching or practice camps identified in the vicinity of the legionary fortress. Likely dating from the period of active legionary occupation (late 1st to 3rd century AD), such camps typically functioned as short-term encampments for troops on manoeuvres, training exercises, or moving through the region. Its modest scale is consistent with a temporary rather than permanent installation.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The site forms part of a cluster of military earthworks around Eboracum, the headquarters of Legio VI Victrix from c. AD 122, reflecting the use of the open ground north of the fortress for troop training and assembly. It contributes to understanding how the legionary garrison managed and exercised its forces in the immediate hinterland of York.
The camp survives as low earthwork traces and has been recognised primarily through aerial photography and earthwork survey on Bootham Stray, where cropmarks and slight banks indicate a rectilinear enclosure with rounded corners typical of Roman military practice. No significant excavation has been published, and dating evidence is inferred from morphology and proximity to the fortress rather than stratified finds.
The Roman camp on Bootham Stray lies on the open common land north of York (Eboracum), and is one of several temporary marching or practice camps identified in the vicinity of the legionary fortress. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a military camp site from the Roman period in Britain.
Roman camp on Bootham Stray, 450m north east of Moor Farm 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 Roman camp on Clifton Moor, 275m NNE of Moor Farm (0.2 km), Roman camp on Huntington South Moor, 300m east of Huntington Grange (2.2 km), Roman Fortress at York (2.8 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 on Bootham Stray, 450m north east of Moor Farm