Lease Rigg is a Roman auxiliary fort situated on a promontory above the River Esk in the North York Moors, near Grosmont. It was a relatively small fort of approximately 1.2 hectares (around 3 acres), likely garrisoned by an auxiliary cohort, and appears to have been occupied during the Flavian to early Antonine period (late 1st to mid-2nd century AD), though its precise dating remains uncertain.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The fort formed part of the network securing the northern frontier zone before the consolidation on Hadrian's Wall, and is generally interpreted as guarding a route across the moors and inland from the Yorkshire coast — possibly linked to the signal-station system later established on the coast, and to communications between the Vale of York and coastal approaches.
Limited excavation in the 1970s by the Department of the Environment identified turf-and-timber defences with multiple ditches, internal timber buildings including barrack blocks and what may be a granary, and produced pottery consistent with a late 1st- to 2nd-century occupation; no substantial stone phase has been recognised, and the site has seen no major recent investigation.
Lease Rigg is a Roman auxiliary fort situated on a promontory above the River Esk in the North York Moors, near Grosmont. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Roman Fort on Lease Rigg 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.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Goathland Roman road, on Wheeldale Moor (6.2 km), Two sections of Roman road on Pickering Moor (8.2 km), Goldsborough Roman Signal Station (11.1 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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