Scheduled Monument: Roman Camp 50m South of Elm Bank (1014115)

EXTRACT FROM ENGLISH HERITAGE'S RECORD OF SCHEDULED MONUMENTS MONUMENT: Roman camp 50m south of Elm Bank PARISH: WAVERTON DISTRICT: CHESTER COUNTY: CHESHIRE NATIONAL MONUMENT NO: 25715 NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE(S): SJ45146395 DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument includes a Roman camp located as a crop mark on an aerial photograph in 1994. The differential growth of crops on the more fertile ditch fills on this site are clearly visible from the air for the length of three sides of this rectangular enclosure. The camp is in a field to the west of the road from Christelton to Whitchurch, the A41. Part of the area of the camp has been destroyed by the road and the house foundations on Eggbridge Lane. These areas are not included in the scheduling. The visible long side of the parallelogram is to the north west and measures 120m to the corner 20m from road edge. The south western side measures 80m with a clear entrance gap in the middle 15m wide. The south eastern side extends for 40m before the road edge cuts it off. The original camp would have covered an area of 1.2ha making it smaller than many of the known examples and possibly earlier than most. The camp is situated on a route to the east of the River Dee from the Roman town at Whitchurch to Chester. The road hedges and the road surface are excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath these features is included. ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTANCE Roman camps are rectangular or sub-rectangular enclosures which were constructed and used by Roman soldiers either when out on campaign or as practice camps; most campaign camps were only temporary overnight bases and few were used for longer periods. They were bounded by a single earthen rampart and outer ditch and in plan are always straight-sided with rounded corners. Normally they have between one and four entrances, although as many as eleven have been recorded. Such entrances were usually centrally placed in the sides of the camp and were often protected by additional defensive outworks. Roman camps are found throughout much of England, although most known examples lie in the midlands and north. Around 140 examples have been identified and, as one of the various types of defensive enclosure built by the Roman Army, particularly in hostile upland and frontier areas, they provide an important insight into Roman military strategy and organisation. All well-preserved examples are identified as being of national importance. Although there are no visible upstanding remains, the camp at Waverton survives as a well defined crop mark and includes indications of its entrances. Although only two thirds of the fort remain intact there will be remains of the rampart spread and of an earlier ground surface beneath it. There will also be traces of the interior arrangements including latrine pits and any post holes for buildings which may have been erected in the interior. MONUMENT INCLUDED IN THE SCHEDULE ON 27th March 1996