Waddon Hill is a small early Roman auxiliary fort situated on a prominent west Dorset hilltop near Stoke Abbott, occupied for a relatively brief period in the mid-1st century AD, broadly c. AD 50–60. It appears to have functioned as a campaign or garrison post associated with the consolidation of the southwest following Vespasian's Legio II Augusta operations against the Durotriges, with a defended area of roughly 0.8–1 hectare suitable for a part-mounted auxiliary detachment or a legionary vexillation.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The site is one of a chain of early forts and fortlets (alongside Hod Hill, Lake Farm, and others) marking the Roman military grip on Durotrigian territory in the years following the Claudian invasion, and its commanding position above the Marshwood Vale reflects continued surveillance of a recently subdued tribal landscape.
Excavations by Graham Webster in the 1959–69 seasons recovered a notable assemblage of military equipment — including legionary-pattern armour fittings, weapon parts, harness, and brooches — together with samian and coarse wares, indicating a short, sharply dated occupation terminating before c. AD 60. No substantial stone buildings were identified; the structures were timber, and the defences modest, consistent with a temporary but regularly garrisoned post rather than a permanent installation.
Waddon Hill is a small early Roman auxiliary fort situated on a prominent west Dorset hilltop near Stoke Abbott, occupied for a relatively brief period in the mid-1st century AD, broadly c. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Waddon Hill 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 villa 725yds (660m) SE of Neville Farm (10.5 km), Halstock (11.2 km), Part of a Later Prehistoric or Romano-British field system 250m north of Eggardon Hill Farm (12.6 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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