Fell End Roman temporary camp and section of Stanegate

The Stanegate military road linked Corbridge and Carlisle, both of which were also situated on important north-south routeways. It also extended west of Carlisle towards the Cumbrian coast. The construction of a series of forts along the road line allowed many troops to be stationed in this crucial frontier area and ensured that the area could be extensively patrolled. A series of smaller watchtowers were also built to help frontier control. The Stanegate frontier thus created, developed further and was consolidated during the late first and early second century AD and helped crystallise Roman tactics and military expectations in the area. The function of the road and its forts changed when Hadrian's Wall was constructed to the north and their support roles were, initially at least, enhanced. The later history of the road and its forts and their relationship with the Wall are less well understood although, overall, their strategic functions declined as the new frontier line was confirmed.

The Fell End Roman temporary camp and associated section of the Stanegate Roman road survive well as a series of upstanding earthworks. The rarity of temporary camps, and in particular examples with upstanding remains, idenifies them as nationally important. In addition the relationship between the road and the camp is unusual. The dating and sequence of remains is not yet understood, but they will contribute to any study of the development of the frontier system over time.

The monument includes the Roman temporary camp known as Fell End and a section of the Stanegate Roman road running, from north of Sunny Rigg Farm to the west side of the camp. They survive well as upstanding earthworks and buried features.

The camp straddles an east to west ridge 1.7km east of the Roman fort at Carvoran. It measures 360m from east to west by 240m north to south, enclosing an area of 8.7ha. The rampart reaches a maximum height of 0.3m internally and 1.3m above the bottom of the ditch on the north side. Two gateways can be identified, one on the north side and one on the south. Both gateways have external defence banks opposite them. The central parts of the east and west sides, where a gateway might have been expected, have each been disturbed or destroyed by the Stanegate, and by later quarrying and hollow ways. The irregular plan of the camp is unusual and therefore the layout seems to have been partly dictated by the topography. Ridge and furrow cultivation extends from the bank and ditch of an old field boundary within the camp across the southern defences at the western end. The bed of a tramway extends from the site of a disused colliery, 120m to the north crossing the camp from north to south to reach a loading bay beside the modern road. Alongside the tramway, in an old quarry within the camp, is a roofless brick built structure which may have been an engine house. The tramway, where it lies within the area of the scheduling, the brick structure and the remains of the loading bay are included in the scheduling.

The Stanegate's general course, along the crest of the east to west ridge, is known. It bisects the camp from east to west along its spine. Although the upstanding earthworks are intermittent the road survives well in places as a low linear earthwork up to 8m in width.