The Roman camp on Clifton Moor, located just north of York (Eboracum), is a temporary marching or practice camp likely associated with military activity along the major route running north from the legionary fortress at York toward Aldborough (Isurium Brigantum) and Catterick (Cataractonium). Such camps were typically constructed by troops on campaign or training exercises during the 1st to 2nd centuries AD, comprising a rectangular earthwork enclosure with a defensive ditch and rampart sufficient to house a unit overnight. Its proximity to Eboracum suggests a function linked to the legionary garrison, possibly for manoeuvres or as a staging post.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The site contributes to understanding the military landscape surrounding York, the principal Roman military centre of northern Britain, and reflects the practice of constructing temporary camps along strategic communication routes through the Vale of York. It illustrates how the hinterland of a legionary fortress was utilised for training and troop movement.
Little is formally recorded about this particular site, which is known primarily through aerial photography and cropmark evidence revealing the characteristic playing-card-shaped enclosure typical of Roman temporary camps. No significant excavation has been published, and dating and internal arrangements remain inferred from comparable camps in the Vale of York such as those at Bainesse and Roecliffe.
The Roman camp on Clifton Moor, located just north of York (Eboracum), is a temporary marching or practice camp likely associated with military activity along the major route running north from the legionary fortress at York toward Aldborough (Isurium Brigantum) and Catterick (Cataractonium). It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a military camp site from the Roman period in Britain.
Roman camp on Clifton Moor, 275m NNE 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 Bootham Stray, 450m north east of Moor Farm (0.2 km), Roman camp on Huntington South Moor, 300m east of Huntington Grange (2.4 km), Multangular Tower (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 Clifton Moor, 275m NNE of Moor Farm