Coesike East Roman temporary camp

The Coesike East 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.

The monument includes the Roman temporary camp known as Coesike East which lies 280m south of Hadrian's Wall. The camp survives as a series of earthworks. The camp is situated on level ground some 6m lower than the spur to the west. There are open views along the line of the Hadrian's Wall to the west and east, however there are restricted views to the north. This regularly layed out camp enclosed an area of 0.2ha.

The extant archaeological remains include the rampart, ditch and outworks opposite the gateways. The rampart, now surviving to a maximum height of 0.1m, has suffered significantly from erosion. The ditch remains are also slight, consisting of a depression 0.1m deep traceable for most of the perimeter. There is some stone in the make-up of the rampart, presumably upcast from the ditch, and there are a number of boulders in the camp interior.

The three gateways, each with traces of external defences, lie at the mid-point of the east, west and south sides. The best example is on the west where the causeway is 4m wide, and the external defence comprises a bank 0.1m high with an outer ditch. All that remains of the east gateway external defence is the ditch, 6m long and 0.1m deep; the bank outside this ditch appears to be natural, and is probably a turf covered outcrop. A modern drainage ditch bisects the camp from north to south, and has cut through the south entrance partly obscuring it, as well as obliterating the western half of the external defence.