Topics > Northumberland > Civil Parishes in Northumberland > Newbrough Civil Parish > Brown Dikes Roman temporary camp
Brown Dikes Roman temporary camp
Map showing Brown Dikes temporary camp to the south-west of Carraw Farm, and south of Hadrian's Wall (running in parallel to, and just north of, the B6318).
The Brown Dikes Roman temporary camp is located about half a mile south of Hadrian's Wall, between Milecastle 32 and 33. The square-shaped camp enclosure has turf-covered ramparts (approx. 5m wide, 0.2m high) and an outer ditch (3m wide). It has earthwork remains of gateways at the north and east sides, protected by external bank defences (titula). Two less well defined external defences are located central to the south and west sides but unusually there are no corresponding breaks in the rampart. Possibly it was a practice camp. The site of the camp is a Scheduled Monument (legally protected).
Scheduled Monument (#1010936): Brown Dikes Roman temporary camp
Click the headings below to expand (selected extracts from the Historic England scheduling)
Over 40 temporary camps of many different sizes, some of them still visible as earthworks, have been recorded in the vicinity of the Wall. These generally consisted of a rampart of earth quickly thrown up to surround a military encampment. The rampart may have been surmounted by a timber palisade. Occupation of these camps was generally short-lived and, while very few of these examples have been firmly dated, it seems probable that at least some were work camps used by troops involved in the Wall construction. Others may have been created as practice camps during military training; temporary camps were widely used during military campaigning to provide overnight security to troops on the move.
The Brown Dikes Roman temporary camp survives well as an upstanding monument. The rarity of temporary camps, and in particular examples with upstanding remains, identifies them as nationally important.
Description
The monument includes the Brown Dikes Roman temporary camp which lies 450m south of the Hadrian's Wall vallum. The camp survives well as a series of earthworks visible on the ground. The camp is situated in a dominant position at the south east end of the Brown Moor ridge. The ground slopes gently away in all directions, except to the north west where there is a slight rise. The camp is enclosed by a rampart, outer ditch and outworks, and is almost square with tightly rounded corners. It measures 67m across, internally, giving an enclosed area of 0.45ha. The ramparts are generally 5m wide and 0.2m high above the interior. The ditch is 3m wide and its inner scarp is up to 1m high along the north side.
The two gates central to the north and east sides are defended by external defences 5m wide and 0.4m high with shallow outer ditches 2m wide and 0.3m deep. Two less well defined external defences are located central to the south and west sides but strangely there are no corresponding breaks in the rampart. No internal Roman features are visible above ground. However, four rectangular structures exist inside the south east corner of the ramparts and a further one inside the rampart of the north east corner. The footings are slight, consisting of low turf banks 1.4m wide and 0.3m high. These structures are probably the remains of shielings, medieval herdsman's huts used during upland grazing in the warmer summer months. The stone field wall which crosses the monument is excluded from the scheduling, but the ground beneath it is included.
