Templebrough (also spelled Templeborough) was a Roman auxiliary fort on the south bank of the River Don, within the modern boundaries of Rotherham, South Yorkshire. The sequence comprises an early turf-and-timber fort founded in the conquest period (mid-1st century AD, though the ca. AD 43 date is unusually early and may reflect a Flavian foundation in most modern interpretations), rebuilt in timber and finally in stone, with occupation continuing into the later 3rd or 4th century. An associated vicus developed around it.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The fort guarded a crossing of the Don and lay on the road linking Doncaster (Danum) with the Brigantian interior and forts to the west such as Brough-on-Noe (Navio), making it an important node in the military control of the southern Pennine frontier zone. Tombstones suggest successive garrisoning by Gallic and Thracian auxiliary cohorts, including the Cohors IV Gallorum.
The site was excavated by Thomas May in 1916–17 ahead of its destruction by the expansion of Steel, Peech and Tozer's steelworks, revealing the fort's defences, internal buildings (including barracks and granaries), and inscribed altars and tombstones now held by Clifton Park Museum, Rotherham. Reconstructed gateposts mark the site today, though the fort itself was largely obliterated by industrial activity.
Templebrough (also spelled Templeborough) was a Roman auxiliary fort on the south bank of the River Don, within the modern boundaries of Rotherham, South Yorkshire. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Templebrough 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 Roman Ridge: SE of Hill Top (section 700yds (660m) long, Meadowhall Road to Hill Top) (1.7 km), Roman Ridge: section 400yds (370m) long from Hill Top Lane to Little Common Lane (2.1 km), Roman Ridge: section 250yds (230m) in length N of Kimberworth Park Road (2.4 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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