Chesters Pike Roman temporary camp

The Chesters Pike Roman temporary camp survives as a series of upstanding earthworks and buried ditches. The rarity of temporary camps, and in particular those with upstanding remains identifies them as nationally important. In addition the silted up ditches have significant archaeological potential as they will contain information regarding the original form and date of the monument.

The monument includes the Roman temporary camp known as Chesters Pike. It survives as a series of earthworks and buried ditches. The camp lies on gently sloping ground to the north of a tributary of the Caw Burn, enclosing an area of 0.5ha. The ramparts are still visible on the ground, however the ditches are buried below the topsoil. The ramparts are best preserved on the north and west sides where they survive to a maximum height of 0.6m.

Although the ditch is not discernible, an old watercourse or drainage channel at the south end of the west side and lying parallel with the rampart, is thought to occupy the line of the original Roman ditch. Gateways exist in the centre of the north, east and west sides. The eastern gateway survives as a lowering in the fence line. External gateway defences are clearly visible on the north and west sides. The camp has been reduced and obscured by field drains, cultivation and modern fences and banks. The field boundaries within the monument are excluded from the scheduling, but the ground bneath them is included.