Monument record 8260 - Earth rampart at Cuppin Street, possible annex of the fortress defences

Excavations at the site of the Magistrates Court, off Cuppin St. in 1986 revealed a sequence of Roman activity just to the southwest of the Roman fortress. In a machine-dug exploratory trench in the west of the main excavation area, were square-cut turves laid to a depth of at least 0.35m. This is typical of Roman military rampart construction but it lies in an area outside the known defended circuit of the fortress’ defences. It may represent part of the defences of an annexe to the fortress. The line of the rampart, constructed of turf and clay, was northeast - southwest (therefore parallel to the road and large drain, and an area of paving is reported to have been on its upper surface. From the early second century, the southeast side of this rampart was buried by a succession of rubbish dumps, largely of building debris. The defences of the Roman fortress comprised several components: The rampart (artificial bank), built in the late first century, consisted of a core of sand, clay or rubble held in place to the front and rear by revetments of stacked turves. It was set on a base of close-set transverse logs and measured approx 6m wide by perhaps 3m high. The top of the rampart would have been flattened to create a walkway that could be patrolled and would have had been protected by a wooden palisade. In all the defences defined a rectangular space some 592m long and 411m wide. Towers, initially of timber and measuring 4.42m square, were also placed at regular intervals along each wall as well as at each angle of the fortress, while four major gates were placed at each main access point to control traffic in and out. There may originally have been 44 towers in all, including angle and gate towers, the angle towers perhaps being about 45m apart. The towers were later rebuilt in stone, measuring about 6.5 m square, with the angle towers being slightly larger. They were now placed slightly further apart, at about 62.5m, and the total number reduced to 34 or 36. The rampart was separated from a substantial outer ditch by a flat area called a berm. The berm was about 1.8m wide and the primary ditch about 3m wide by 1.5m deep. At a later date the defences were further strengthened by the insertion of a stone revetment wall laid in regular courses each about 0.30m high against the outer face of the rampart. This measured about 1.5m wide by about 4.75m to wall walk level and was again surmounted by stone breastwork. The ditch was widened and deepened, perhaps up to 7m by 3m, although re-cutting has made the dimensions difficult to measure. The date of construction of the stone revetment wall is disputed. It is possible that the southern and eastern sectors were started at the beginning of the second century, along with the towers, but that remaining sectors were not completed until the early third century. Evidence of two phases of reconstruction incorporating re-used stones has been found on all but the south side, accompanied in some cases by rubble in the ditch. It is suggested that reconstruction to the original width is to be dated to the start of the fourth century, but that doubling of the width may belong to the Saxon period.