Roman BritainRoman fort
Roman Fort · Military

Roman fort

Roman Britain
Pleiades ID: nhle-1838
Site type
Fort
Category
Military
Latitude
52.3545
Longitude
-2.8967
Overview

History & context

Buckton Roman Fort is an archaeological site at Buckton, about 1 mile south-west of Leintwardine, in Herefordshire. England. it is a scheduled monument.

The Roman vicus Bravonium was established at present-day Leintwardine about AD 70; a fort was built there about AD 160, and abandoned about AD 196.

The fort at Buckton is just above the floodplain of the River Teme. The remains, entirely buried, were observed and photographed from the air by W A Baker in 1959, during a drought. There was excavation between then and 1961, from which a chronology was established.

Originally there were turf ramparts and timber gate towers, constructed about AD 80. The fort replaced an earlier fort nearby at Jay Lane. It is thought that this site had a better water supply; traces of a bath house were found to the east of the fort.

The fort was rebuilt in stone about AD 120, with a similar size, about 2.3 hectares (5.7 acres). It housed a cavalry unit. There were gates of width 22.3 metres (73 ft), inside stone gate towers; it was the largest gatehouse of an auxiliary fort known in Britain. The fort was later dismantled, perhaps to build the fort at Bravonium, and was abandoned in AD 130.

There is an adjacent fort to the north-west, entirely buried but visible on aerial photographs, of area about 1.5 hectares (3.7 acres). It is presumably associated with the larger fort, and may have been an earlier temporary fort.

Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →

About this site

Questions & answers

What is Roman fort?

Buckton Roman Fort is an archaeological site at Buckton, about 1 mile south-west of Leintwardine, in Herefordshire. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.

What type of Roman site is Roman fort?

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.

What other Roman sites are near Roman fort?

Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Roman fort NE of Buckton (0.4 km), Roman temporary camp S of Walford Bridge (1.1 km), Brandon Camp (1.3 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.

How can I research the history of the area around Roman fort?

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Everything a full report reveals about Roman fort

This page covers the Roman site at Roman fort. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this site alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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