Small unit camps?

[D B Campbell]

Are we sure these earthworks are Roman camps? I've come across 'Roman camps' on ancient maps of Wiltshire for instance, and they are always either undated, or Medieval?

Admittedly, it can be difficult to tell for certain. Some of the factors we would look for are (a) a playing-card shape (nice rounded corners), (b) proportions of 1:1 through to 2:3 (on its own, no guarantee, as this probably covers most enclosures you're likely to find), © entrance gaps located centrally along each side (if roughly 1:1) or at least pairs of entrance gaps located opposite one another (creating a straight internal roadway from gate to gate), (d) Roman-style gate protection (the clinching factor, if you can find a titulus or clavicula).

Proximity to other Roman works often gives us a false sense of security, but a tentative case can be made for something like Sandford, because it lies beside a Roman road. Bishop Rigg is a safer bet, as it was actually trenched, turning up Roman pottery.