Roman camps UK - is there a database or list?

[Steve Kaye]

camps never located at cross-roads (I'm still thinking about this one)

Interesting - what are your thoughts?

Nathan, not sure. I noticed it while just looking at maps - no measurements yet. However, John1 mentioned High Cross which appears to be a classic example. The crossing point is on the high ground but the camps (e.g. Wigston Parva fort) are at least 1.5km away (they have to be to find sufficient water). So, as a first guess, I'd speculate that the crossing points keep to the high, dry, passable ground while the camps are located as close as the water supply will allow. Nothing outstanding about that. The trick will be in formulating the rules from all the datasets I'll examine to then 'predict' where unknown camps/forts might be located. And the rules have to be derived from the accurate locations of the known camps and military roads - hence my asking about data sources.

I wondered a while ago whether the shortage of marching camps in southern England might be due to many of these sites later becoming towns, with the remains overlaying and obscuring the earlier traces. Does that seem plausible?

I think it is true to say that idea has been around for a while except that you mention marching camps when most might say permanent forts (of one size or another) or mansiones. On the other hand, did the marching camps locations, over time, gain mansiones and then villages/towns? I suspect they might, after all, camps and mansiones are sited to support the traveller. Therefore some common features are distance travelled, available water, sheltering topography, flat ground, deeper soil than the surrounding area (different reasons though) etc.. Of course, there may be at least twice as many mansiones than camps on any stretch of road. But there are different rules for different areas, e.g. in Scotland a marching camp often does not become a civilian habitation (exception might be farms) while in southern England one could argue they would. The reason is related to the historical purpose for the camp and its location (usually wind and rain swept, midge ridden and generally aweful in Scotland). The bad news, for what I want to do, is that most of the known camps are in Scotland and Wales, i.e. just what level of localised bias will be introduced by these camps into the search for southern English camps? Can it be removed?

So much to ponder - fun though!

ValentinianVictrix, I thought the Dent de Lion in Garlinge was 15th century. Has new work dug up some foundations?

Regards, Steve Kaye