The Roman temporary camp at East Farm lies in south Dorset, in the hinterland between the Durotrigan landscape of Maiden Castle/Dorchester (Durnovaria) and the South Dorset Ridgeway. Temporary camps of this type were short-lived enclosures thrown up by Roman troops on the march or on campaign, most likely associated with the Claudian conquest of the south-west under Vespasian and the Legio II Augusta in the AD 43–47 period, though later use during training or policing operations cannot be excluded.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
If correctly identified, the site forms part of the network of marching camps documenting the Roman military advance through Durotrigan territory — the same campaign that reduced hillforts such as Maiden Castle, Hod Hill and Spettisbury. Such camps are relatively scarce in the south-west compared to northern Britain, making any well-attested example in Dorset of regional importance.
The Roman temporary camp at East Farm lies in south Dorset, in the hinterland between the Durotrigan landscape of Maiden Castle/Dorchester (Durnovaria) and the South Dorset Ridgeway. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a site site from the Roman period in Britain.
Roman temporary camp at East Farm is classified as a Roman site — a civilian 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 villa SE of East Farm (0.8 km), Roman villa 900yds (820m) NW of parish church (2.2 km), Yeovil (2.7 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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