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Site record MDR2514 - Possible Roman Fort or Camp, Cropmarks, Off Drakelow Road, Walton upon Trent

Type and Period (3)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Full Description

Possible Roman fort or camp, cropmarks, off Drakelow Road, Walton upon Trent. Cropmarks visible on air photographs taken at Walton on Trent by Jim Pickering. These include, at SK224194, cropmarks of two sides of a double ditched enclosure, and at SK226193, cropmarks of three sides of a rectangular enclosure with other linear features. (1-2) Nothing visible on OS air photographs taken in 1967. (3) Several cropmarks identified as part of the New National Forest Survey and mapped using good quality aerial photographs. These include: probable cropmark enclosure of unknown prehistoric date seen as an asymmetric polygonal enclosure, 115m by ??m, defined by one ditch, with three sides visible and the rest masked by trees. Centred at SK22591934. (5) 'Probable cropmark enclosure of unknown prehistoric date seen as a single linear feature defined by two ditches, with a maximum length of 150m. Centred at SK22421941.' (6) 'Probable cropmark field boundary of post medieval date seen as a single linear feature defined by one ditch, with a maximum length of 150m. Centred at SK22311933.' (7) 'Possible cropmark enclosure of unknown prehistoric date seen as an interrupted single linear feature defined by one ditch, with a maximum length of 80m. It is possible that this enclosure is the same as that in [SMR entry 27502]. Centred at SK22321898.' (8) Cropmarks plotted on map overlay at a scale of 1:10000. (9) 'The double ditched enclosure has been interpreted as a possible Roman fort or marching camp. Between 43 and 48 AD, the Roman legionary army moved north and northwest from Colchester and the Thames. By 48 AD the Fosse Way was established as a frontier running from Exeter to Lincoln and beyond this line physical barriers, such as the Trent, formed an ideal forward line. It is therefore suggested that the Drakelow fort will have been constructed in the late 40s AD and occupied for a short period, certainly less than a decade. If the site proves to be a marching camp, then an even shorter period of occupation can be expected. The configuration of the cropmarks forming the possible fort suggest that the fort extends into the woodland forming the south-west boundary of the Power Station site.' (10) An electrical resistivity survey carried out in September 2022 '...indicated that we had indeed located the double ditched feature extending west into and through the next field, and had also found the westerly return and limit of the feature before it disappeared into the river.' (11)

Sources/Archives (11)

  • <1> Index: TPAT. 1980. 2001. 2001.
  • <2> Aerial Photograph: Pickering, J (National Monuments Record, English Heritage). Aerial Photographs (NMR SK 2219/1 3 ).
  • <3> Aerial Photograph: 1967. APs (OS 67/015 218-9 1.4.67).
  • <4> Aerial Photograph: St Joseph, J. K. AP YL 95.
  • <5> Index: RCHME. 1995. New National Forest Survey: 921483. 921483. 42-43.
  • <6> Index: RCHME. 1995. New National Forest Survey: 921486. 921486. 48-49.
  • <7> Index: RCHME. 1995. New National Forest Survey: 929915. 929915. 119-120.
  • <8> Index: RCHME. 1995. New National Forest Survey: 929942. 929942. 167-168.
  • <9> Archive: Whiteley, S. 1989. Aerial Photographic Transcripton Project.
  • <10> Unpublished document: Chadwick, P. 1995. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment of Land at Drakelow Power Station, Derbyshire. 9-10.
  • <11> Unpublished document: Knight, M (Transforming the Trent Valley). 2022. Report on the Walton / Drakelow Roman Fort Investigation, September 2022.

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Location

Grid reference Centred SK 2241 1924 (555m by 602m) Approximate
Civil Parish WALTON UPON TRENT, SOUTH DERBYSHIRE, DERBYSHIRE

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (1)

  • EDR5275

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Record last edited

Feb 4 2025 2:54PM

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