The Romano-British settlement WNW of Old Spital lies on the high ground of Stainmore in the Pennines, close to the line of the Roman road from Bowes (Lavatrae) to Brough (Verteris) crossing the Stainmore Pass. It is likely a small native farmstead or enclosed settlement of the type that proliferated in the upland North Pennines during the 2nd–4th centuries AD, occupied by a pastoralist population subsisting alongside the heavily militarised trans-Pennine corridor.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Its significance lies in its position along one of the most strategically important Roman routes in northern Britain — Stainmore was guarded by a chain of forts, fortlets, and signal stations (Maiden Castle, Roper Castle, Bowes Pass) — meaning even minor civilian sites here illuminate the relationship between indigenous upland communities and the Roman military supply economy.
No detailed excavation is recorded for this specific site; it is known principally through earthwork survey, showing typical features of enclosure banks and possible hut platforms consistent with comparable Stainmore settlements such as those at Levy Pool and along the Greta valley. Without targeted fieldwork, dating and internal layout remain inferred rather than demonstrated.
The Romano-British settlement WNW of Old Spital lies on the high ground of Stainmore in the Pennines, close to the line of the Roman road from Bowes (Lavatrae) to Brough (Verteris) crossing the Stainmore Pass. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a settlement site from the Roman period in Britain.
Romano-British settlement 740m WNW of Old Spital is classified as a Roman settlement — 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 Unenclosed hut circle settlement, two round cairns, medieval transhumance settlement and two pillow mounds, 360m south east of Rey Cross Roman camp (0.3 km), Reycross (0.3 km), Roper Castle Roman signal station, on the eastern flank of Moudy Mea, 700m south of Summit Reservoir (2.5 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 Romano-British settlement 740m WNW of Old Spital