Lunt Roman Fort

Last updated

Lunt Roman Fort
Baginton, Warwickshire
Lunt fort baginton.JPG
The reconstructed main gatehouse as seen from inside the fort.
Coordinates 52°22′22″N1°29′48″W / 52.37272°N 1.496571°W / 52.37272; -1.496571
Site information
Open to
the public
Yes
ConditionPartially reconstructed

The Lunt Roman Fort is the archaeological site of a Roman fort, of unknown name, in the Roman province of Britannia. It is open to the public and located in the village of Baginton on the south eastern outskirts of Coventry. The fort has now been fully excavated and partially reconstructed; the wooden gateway rebuild was led by archaeologist Margaret Rylatt, using the same tools and techniques that the military engineers of the Roman Army would have used. In 2001, Anglo Saxon artefacts dating to Sub-Roman Britain were discovered on the site.

Contents

Location

The site has a large steep bank just beyond the northern boundary of the fort, which descends to the River Sowe. The elevation from the top of the bank provides good views of the landscape to the north for two or three miles (4.0 km)

History

Four periods of occupation of the fort during periods of unrest in Roman Britain have been identified by excavation. [1] [2] The fort was built around AD 60 [3] to act as a supply depot and headquarters for an unknown legion during the final campaign against Boudica. [4]

From AD 64 it was used, in the second phase, by a cohort which reduced the size of the fort, but from which the principia , praetorium , two granaries and six barrack blocks have been excavated. A number of buildings were demolished to construct a gyrus.[ citation needed ] Many horse fittings, possible stabling, an extensive metalworking area, granary and storage space suggests a cavalry unit was present at this time. This second phase lasted until AD 77/8. [5]

The third period of AD 77/78-79 included construction of a double ditch system, a twin-portalled gateway on the south and occupation outside the defences until the fort was decommissioned. [6]

After AD 260, perhaps during the rebel Gallic Empire, it was recommissioned as a temporary fort with ditches on a similar alignment but slightly larger than that of Period 2. [2] This is based on the discovery of a single coin found in the post hole of a gateway at the site of the fort that dates to the reign of Gallienus (r. 260–268), but the coin could have been a casual loss long after the fort had been abandoned.

Gyrus

The north, south and west sides followed the usual pattern for a Roman camp of straight ditches and ramparts. However, on the eastern side the defences bulge out around a circular structure with a diameter of 32 m (105 ft). The sand and gravel subsoil had been dug out to a depth of 600 to 900 mm (24 to 35 in) and the area surrounded with a timber stockade. [7]

This ring, the only known "gyrus" in the Roman Empire, may have been used for training horses. [4] The gyrus was added to the fort during its second period of occupation and its construction caused significant disruption to the fort. Having the gyrus within the fort affects not just the wall which curves to accommodate the structure deviating from the Roman playing card shape pattern but also the layout of the fort which is significantly different from the standard layout. This makes the fort unique not just in Britain but also in the Roman Empire.

Lunt Roman Fort gyrus outside.jpg
The gyrus is believed to have been used for training horses

Archaeology and preservation

Reconstruction of the main gate to the fort Lunt Roman Fort main gate.jpg
Reconstruction of the main gate to the fort
The modern interpretation of the fort's granary Lunt shed baginton.JPG
The modern interpretation of the fort's granary

The site was identified when large quantities of Roman pottery were found in the 1930s. In the 1960s, Brian Hobley, keeper of field archaeology at the Coventry Museum, commenced a long-term project to combine excavation with a study of the methods by which Roman camps were built. [8] Archaeological excavations identified three distinct periods of occupation of the Roman military site. [9] During the 1970s some features of the fort were reconstructed upon the original foundations: these are a section of the wall, a gateway modelled on images of Trajan's column, one of the three granaries and the gyrus. [9] [10]

In 2001 a team of Canadian students unearthed a fragment of Roman Samian pottery and a Nero's head coin dating from 65 AD. [11] Other finds have included a ring etched with a palm leaf. This type of design symbolized victory and was worn by successful gladiators. [12]

Evidence of Saxon settlement was unearthed in 2001 [11] and finds evidencing mediaeval occupation include large post holes and a post-Roman ditch filled with pottery fragments. [11]

The fort is open for public, school visits and organised tours and has hosted many holiday excavation trips. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maiden Castle, Dorset</span> Iron Age hill fort in Dorset, England

Maiden Castle is an Iron Age hillfort 1.6 mi (2.6 km) southwest of Dorchester, in the English county of Dorset. Hill forts were fortified hill-top settlements constructed across Britain during the Iron Age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manduessedum</span>

Manduessedum or Manduesedum was a Roman fort and later a civilian small town in the Roman Province of Britannia. It was located on and immediately to the east of the site of the modern village of Mancetter, located in the English county of Warwickshire, close to the modern town of Atherstone. The name is of Romano-Celtic origin, and is likely derived from the Gaulish essedum, meaning 'chariot', whilst the first element mandu was common in Gaulish place names, but its meaning is obscure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trimontium (Newstead)</span> Archaeological site in Scottish Borders, Scotland

Trimontium was a Roman fort complex in Scotland. It is located at Newstead, near Melrose, in the Scottish Borders, in view of the three Eildon Hills which probably gave its name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambresbury Banks</span> Iron Age hillfort in England

Ambresbury Banks is the name given to the remains of an Iron Age hill fort in Epping Forest, Essex, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danebury</span> Iron Age hillfort in Hampshire, England

Danebury is an Iron Age hillfort in Hampshire, England, about 19 kilometres (12 mi) north-west of Winchester. The site, covering 5 hectares, was excavated by Barry Cunliffe in the 1970s. Danebury is considered a type-site for hill forts, and was important in developing the understanding of hillforts, as very few others have been so intensively excavated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Badbury Rings</span> Iron Age hill fort in east Dorset, England

Badbury Rings is an Iron Age hill fort and Scheduled Monument in east Dorset, England. It was in the territory of the Durotriges. In the Roman era a temple was located immediately west of the fort, and there was a Romano-British town known as Vindocladia a short distance to the south-west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Warwickshire</span> Aspect of history

This is about the history of the county Warwickshire situated in the English Midlands. Historically, bounded to the north-west by Staffordshire, by Leicestershire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the east, Worcestershire to the west, Oxfordshire to the south and Gloucestershire to the south-west. Areas historically part of Warwickshire include Coventry, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield and much of central Birmingham including Aston and Edgbaston. These became part of the metropolitan county of West Midlands following local government re-organisation in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baginton</span> Human settlement in England

Baginton is a village and civil parish in the Warwick district of Warwickshire, England, and has a common border with the City of Coventry / West Midlands county. With a population of 801, Baginton village is 4 miles (6.4 km) south of central Coventry, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) northeast of Kenilworth and 7 miles (11 km) north of Leamington Spa. The population had reduced slightly to 755 at the 2011 Census. The Lucy Price playing field is situated centrally in the village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Sowe</span> River in Warwickshire and the West Midlands, England

The River Sowe is a river in Warwickshire and West Midlands, England. It is a tributary of the River Avon, and flows into it just south of Stoneleigh about 5 miles (8 km) south of Coventry. It is about 12 miles (19 km) long.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ratae Corieltauvorum</span>

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coria (Corbridge)</span> Roman fort in Corbridge, England

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castleshaw Roman Fort</span> Roman camp in Greater Manchester, England

Castleshaw Roman fort was a castellum in the Roman province of Britannia. Although there is no evidence to substantiate the claim, it has been suggested that Castleshaw Roman fort is the site of Rigodunum, a Brigantian settlement. The remains of the fort are located on Castle Hill on the eastern side of Castleshaw Valley at the foot of Standedge but overlooking the valley. The hill is on the edge of Castleshaw in Greater Manchester. The fort was constructed in c. AD 79, but fell out of use at some time during the 90s. It was replaced by a smaller fortlet, built in c. 105, around which a civilian settlement grew. It may have served as a logistical and administrative centre, although it was abandoned in the 120s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Condercum</span> Roman fort in England

Condercum was a Roman fort on the site of the modern-day Condercum Estate in Benwell, a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was the third fort on Hadrian's Wall, after Segedunum (Wallsend) and Pons Aelius (Newcastle), and was situated on a hilltop 2 miles (3 km) to the west of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burrough Hill</span>

Burrough Hill is an Iron Age hillfort in Burrough on the Hill, 7 miles (11 km) south of Melton Mowbray in the English county of Leicestershire. Situated on a promontory about 210 metres (690 ft) above sea level, the site commands views over the surrounding countryside for miles around. There has been human activity in the area since at least the Mesolithic, and the hillfort was founded in the early Iron Age. In the medieval period, after the hillfort was abandoned, the hill was used as farmland. This ended in the 17th century when the parish the hill was in was enclosed. Traces of ridge and furrow show where the medieval fields were ploughed. Since the 1930s the site has been the subject of archaeological investigations and renewed excavations under the auspices of the University of Leicester began in 2010. Part of Burrough Hill Country Park and open to the public, the hillfort is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Mellor hill fort is a prehistoric site in North West England, that dates from the British Iron Age—about 800 BC to 100 AD. Situated on a hill in Mellor, Greater Manchester, on the western edge of the Peak District, the hill fort overlooks the Cheshire Plain. Although the settlement was founded during the Iron Age, evidence exists of activity on the site as far back as 8,000 BC; during the Bronze Age the hill may have been an area where funerary practices were performed. Artefacts such as a Bronze Age amber necklace indicate the site was high status and that its residents took part in long-distance trade. The settlement was occupied into the Roman period. After the site was abandoned, probably in the 4th century, it was forgotten until its rediscovery in the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inveresk Roman Fort</span> Archaeological site in East Lothian, Scotland

Inveresk Roman Fort is an archaeological site within the grounds of St Michael's Church, Inveresk, a village in East Lothian, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blewburton Hill</span> Hillfort in Oxfordshire, England

Blewburton Hill is the site of an Iron Age hillfort located in Oxfordshire, in the southeast of England. It was a univallate hillfort. The area is mostly farmland with some small areas of wooded copse to the south and the northeast. The hill fort may have been occupied from the 4th century BC to the 1st century BC, and replaced a small settlement surrounded by a stockade, which is estimated to have been built in the 5th or 6th century BC.

Slack Roman Fort was a castellum near Outlane, to the west of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England. Its site is a scheduled monument. The ruins of the fort which lay alongside the Pennine section of the Roman road from Deva Victrix (Chester) to Eboracum (York) are no longer visible. The fort may have been the Cambodunum mentioned as a station on this route in the Antonine Itinerary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keston Roman villa</span>

The Keston Roman villa is an archaeological site in Keston in the London Borough of Bromley, England. The villa consisted of several buildings including a mausoleum. The latter is preserved above ground.

References

  1. Brian Hobbs, The Final Excavation Report, 1978
  2. 1 2 The Lunt Roman Fort: Period 4 https://www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/content/catalogue_her/the-lunt-roman-fort-period-4
  3. The Lunt Roman Fort: Period 1 https://www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/content/catalogue_her/the-lunt-roman-fort-period-1
  4. 1 2 Coventry Telegraph, Romans in action at Lunt Fort, 3 July 2009
  5. The Lunt Roman Fort: Period 2 https://www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/content/catalogue_her/the-lunt-roman-fort-period-2
  6. The Lunt Roman Fort: Period 4 https://www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/content/catalogue_her/the-lunt-roman-fort-period-3
  7. The Times, First-century 'rodeo' in Roman fort 12 December 1970
  8. Noonan, Damien TOP 10 WEBSITES FOR... THE ROMANS IN BRITAIN The Daily Telegraph, 26 July 2008
  9. 1 2 The Times, Army helps to rebuild Roman fort 23 October 1970
  10. "The Rebuilding of Lunt Roman Fort". Warwick University. Warwick Classics Network. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Goulden, BARBARA Dig reveals life after the Romans Coventry Telegraph, 20 August 2001
  12. Goulden, Barbara. Ancient find at the Lunt hints of Roman games, Coventry Telegraph, 3 May 2007