The Cawthorn Camps comprise an unusual group of four contiguous earthwork enclosures (conventionally labelled A–D) on a moorland spur on the southern edge of the North York Moors, occupied briefly in the early 2nd century AD, probably during the reign of Trajan or early Hadrian (c. AD 90–120). The complex includes two forts, a camp, and an annexe of differing plans and sizes — an arrangement interpreted as a training and construction exercise ground rather than a garrisoned frontier installation.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Cawthorn is exceptional in Roman Britain for preserving what appears to be a practice site where troops, perhaps from the Eboracum (York) legion or auxiliary units, built and rebuilt defensive works of varying types — including unusual asymmetric ramparts, multiple gateway forms, and overlapping ditches. The site is one of the best-preserved earthwork complexes of its kind in northern Britain and is central to understanding how the Roman army trained in fieldcraft.
Excavations by Ian Richmond in 1923 demonstrated the short-lived nature of the occupation, with ovens cut into the ramparts but little internal occupation debris, supporting the training-camp interpretation; more recent survey work by English Heritage (now Historic England) in the 1990s and 2000s has re-mapped the earthworks and questioned some of Richmond's chronology, suggesting a possib
The Cawthorn Camps comprise an unusual group of four contiguous earthwork enclosures (conventionally labelled A–D) on a moorland spur on the southern edge of the North York Moors, occupied briefly in the early 2nd century AD, probably during the reign of Trajan or early Hadrian (c. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Roman Forts and Camps at Cawthorn 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 Two sections of Roman road on Flamborough Rigg (2.7 km), Two sections of Roman road on Pickering Moor (6.3 km), Goathland Roman road, on Wheeldale Moor (8.4 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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