[NY 886708] Roman Camp. (1)

To the south of the Vallum at Tower Tye, in a plantation of firs, is a temporary camp, of which the gateways are furnished with traverses. (2)

The remains of this camp, though now heavily overgrown, are still traceable by a generally well defined rampart (max ht 0.8m) which has, on its west, south and south-east sides, the superficial traces of an external ditch. The only apparent entrance is on the south side. There are no visible indications of traverses on any side. Resurveyed at 1/2500. (3)

Walwick Fell Roman camp surveyed by RCHME. (4)

Scheduled. (5)

RCHME account. (6)

This camp has been re-assessed in connection with RCHME's survey and publication of Roman Camps in England. The following descriptive account is taken from the published text.
The much reduced remains of this camp are situated in the angle of the wall round Walwickfell Plantation, 300 m SW of Milecastle 29 on Hadrian's Wall, on a false crest of a hill at about 230 m above OD. This coniferous wood was described in 1912 as 'just planted' (Newbold 1913, 71 (4a)) and is now partly felled. The site is much obscured by fallen trees but originally would have had extensive views from the E round to the SW as the ground drops away in gentle slopes through this arc. The camp, consisting of a rampart and outer ditch with quite sharply rounded corners, measures 75 m square across the interior and encloses an area of 0.5 ha (1.4 acres). Where best preserved, at the S end of the NW side, the predominantly earthen rampart is 4 m wide and stands 0.7 m high above the interior. In the N half of the SE side the defences have been reduced to a single scarp; elsewhere, however, the ditch measures about 4 m wide and 0.4 m deep. Four ill-defined breaks, each about 6 m long, mark the gates recorded by MacLauchlan (1858, 33 (4b)). On the NW and SE sides the gates are positioned approximately at the central point. The SW gate, however, is offset about 2 m to the NW of centre. This seems to be mirrored on the opposite, NE, side where the breach in the rampart is offset to the SE. All but the NE gate retain slight traces of an accompanying traverse, though these have been almost obliterated by afforestation, felling and quarrying. The NE one has been destroyed altogether, probably by the felling of the old wood and the recent planting of conifers across this N corner of the camp. The camp has been encroached upon by small stone quarries which scar much of the hill. It is also partly overlain by a boundary bank running NNE to SSW; this is probably associated with the later ridge-and-furrow on the slopes to the S which, in a much slighter and barely discernble condition, approach the SW side of the camp. The boundary bank runs across an enclosed native settlement (NY 87 SE 18) lying about 150 m down the slope to the S. (8a-c)

The Roman temporary camp was seen as an earthwork and mapped from 1946 vertical air phtotographs. The interior of the fort is covered with piles of vegetation - possibly caused by clearance of bracken. Any traverses were not recognised. The interior of the camp measured 78 m NW - SE and 74 m NE - SW. (8d)

Located on the English Heritage map of Hadrian's Wall 2010. (8e)

General association with HER 7887. (8)