Roman BritainWandel
Roman Fortlet · Military

Wandel

Roman Britain
Pleiades ID: 606033360
Site type
Fortlet
Category
Military
Latitude
55.5236
Longitude
-3.6738
Overview

History & context

For temporary camp, see ) (A: NS 9443 2681; B: 9440 2658). Crop marks and slight surface-traces visible on air photographs reveal the presence of a Roman fortlet (A) and temporary camp (B) at Wandel. The fortlet which occupies the summit of a low knoll in arable ground about 410 m SW of Wandel farmhouse, has been severely denuded by cultivation. No trace of the work is at present visible on the surface, but probing and a limited excavation carried out by the Commission's officers in 1966 showed that it was trapezoidal on plan and lay only 3.4m SE of the Roman road. It measured 33.2m from NE to SW by 31.4m transversely within a single ditch, which except on the NW, where it apparently merged with the drainage-ditch bordering the road, had been reduced to a mere heel approximately 1.5m in greatest width and not more than 0.5m deep. The entrance could not be located with certainty, but it presumably lay in the centre of the NW side. Although nothing was found during the excavation to date the fortlet, its dimensions within the ditch approximate so closely to those of the fortlet at Redshaw Burn (NT 01 SW 2) as to make it probable that the two are contemporary. The temporary camp is situated in level pasture immediately to the S of the fortlet. A portion of the rampart, comprising 140 m of the E side, the rounded SE corner, and 30m of the S side, is still visible, and a section was cut across it in 1970. This showed that the rampart measured 2.3m by 0.5m and consisted solely of upcast material from an external ditch 3.4m wide by 1.1m deep. Faint crop-markings on air photographs (nos BEB 81 and 83) indicate that the E side was continued for another 80m to the N and on the date of the visit, what appeared to be a cross-section of the ditch was exposed in the bank of a water-course about 140m W of the SE corner. The position of the other two sides has not been determined. RCAHMS 1978, visited 1970 There are no ground surface remains of the fortlet in a field now under grass. The remains of the temporary camp, however, are clearly visible in pasture land and are as described by RCAHMS. Surveyed at 1/2500. Visited by OS (BS) 3 August 1978. Loading... 0 Activities Close all 45

Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →

About this site

Questions & answers

What is Wandel?

For temporary camp, see ) (A: NS 9443 2681; B: 9440 2658). It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fortlet site from the Roman period in Britain.

What type of Roman site is Wandel?

Wandel is classified as a Roman fortlet — 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.

What other Roman sites are near Wandel?

Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Crawford (5.4 km), Redshaw Burn (15.4 km), Corda? (17.5 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.

How can I research the history of the area around Wandel?

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Everything a full report reveals about Wandel

This page covers the Roman site at Wandel. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this site alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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