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Air Reconnaissance in Britain, 1951–5

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2012

J. K. St. Joseph
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Extract

Accounts of air reconnaissance in Britain have already been printed in this Journal (XLI, for north Britain; XLIII, for south Britain): the present paper records recent discoveries, bringing the previous records up to date.

Of the last five summers only in 1955 was there a marked drought favourable to the development of crop marks; but it has been possible to observe different parts of the country under a wide variety of conditions. These have allowed advantage to be taken of different combinations of weather, crops, and soil, so that a buried site invisible one year might be seen in another. Moreover, opportunities for reconnaissance in March and April have meant that large areas could be observed soon after spring ploughing, when soil-patterns in bare fields often reveal disturbances in the ground. These conditions have been particularly valuable for studying Celtic field-systems on the chalk downs and traces of ancient agriculture in the Fenland.

In the north, reconnaissance has revealed an interesting new group of military works, apparently of early date, at Troutbeck on the margin of the Lake District, besides yielding much fresh information at sites already known. This is particularly true of the extensive Roman sites in Scotland that often now lie within several different fields, not all of which are under suitable crops in any one year. Two forts, two signal-stations, and some sixteen temporary camps may be added to the list of discoveries given in JRS XLI.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Roman Studies , Volume 45 , Issue 1-2 , November 1955 , pp. 82 - 91
Copyright
Copyright © J. K. St. Joseph 1955. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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References

1 All the photographs taken during these surveys now form part of the Cambridge University Collection of air photographs.

2 JRS XLIII, 1953, 87–8Google Scholar, pl. XI, 1.

3 Arch. Aeliana4 I, 1925, 4–6Google Scholar; Trans. Architectural and Archaeological Soc. of Durham and Northumberland VII, 1936, 235–277Google Scholar; plan published by E. Wooler, Roman fort at Piercebridge (1917), 46.

4 Arch. Ael., l.c.

5 Ordnance Maps, 25-inch scale, Durham, sheet XXXIV, 14 (1939 revision).

6 JRS XLI, 1951, 54Google Scholar.

7 Cumb. and West. Ant. and Arch. Soc. Trans. (= CW) N.S., XXIX, 1929, 157–9Google Scholar.

8 Ordnance Maps, 25-inch scale, Cumberland, sheet LIII, 7 (1925 edition).

8a The road is briefly described by West, Guide to the Lakes, 1st ed. 1778, 147 ff. The ‘traces of a large encampment’ there mentioned probably refer to the temporary camp at NY 380273.

9 Ordnance Maps, 25-inch scale, Cumberland, sheet LVII, 11 (1899 ed.).

10 CW2, XXXVIII, 1938, 32–41Google Scholar.

11 JRS XLIII, 1953, pl. X, 1, but see below, p. 121Google Scholar.

12 Ordnance Maps, 25-inch scale, Northumberland, sheet LXXX, 16 (1922 ed.).

12a Northumberland County History, XV, 1940, 70–71Google Scholar.

13 JRS XLI, 1951, 56Google Scholar.

14 JRS XLI, 1951, 57Google Scholar.

15 ibid.

16 JRS XLI, 1951, 57Google Scholar.

17 ibid.

18 Ordnance Maps, 25-inch scale, Lanarkshire, sheet XXVI, 9 (1941 revision).

19 JRS XLI, 1951, 58Google Scholar.

20 ibid.

21 JRS XLI, 1951, 59Google Scholar, under Dalswinton.

22 Roman Occupation of south-western Scotland 1952, 188–191; JRS XXXIX, 1949, 98Google Scholar.

22a For Wilderness Plantation, see JRS XLI, 1951, 61Google Scholar; for Duntocher, , JRS XL, 1950, 94, fig. 14Google Scholar. As the precise course of the Wall at Bearsden is not known, the best estimate of the distance from Wilderness Plantation to Duntocher along the Wall line (12,650 yards) can only be approximate. The feature at Watling Lodge, west of Falkirk, described by Macdonald (The Roman Wall in Scotland, 1934, 344–5) may be another member of the series.

23 Ordnance Maps, 25-inch scale, Stirlingshire, sheet N XXIX, 8 (1918 edition).

23a The probing was undertaken by Mr. R. W. Feachem who kindly gave me particulars. For Kinglass Park camp, see JRS XLI, 1951, 62.

24 Ordnance Maps, 25-inch scale, Dumbartonshire (Det.), sheet N XXIX, 10 (1918 edition).

25 JRS XLI, 1951, 62Google Scholar.

26 JRS XLI, 1951, 52, n. 1Google Scholar.

27 JRS XLI, 1951, 62Google Scholar.

28 PSA Scot. LXXXIV, 1952, 217Google Scholar; JRS XLIII, 1953, 105–6Google Scholar. figs. 22, 23.

29 JRS XLI, 1951, 63Google Scholar.

30 PSA Scot. XXXV, 1901, 25–9Google Scholar; O. G. S. Crawford, Topography of Roman Scotland 1949, 51–5.

31 Military Antiquities 1793, pl. XIV.

32 JRS XLI, 1951, 64Google Scholar.

32a Woolhope Nat. F.C. Trans. XXXIV, 1954, 283–6Google Scholar.

33 JRS XLIII, 1953, 86Google Scholar.

33a JRS XLIII, 97.

34 JRS XLIII, 1953, 84, 88–9Google Scholar, pls. XI, XII.

35 Ordnance Maps, 25-inch scale, Shropshire, sheets XLII, I and 2 (1927 edition).

36 This field is the large triangular field between two roads north-west of the field (465) containing the forum, as shown on the site plan in Atkinson, D., Report on Excavations at Wroxeter (Birmingham Arch. Soc., 1942Google Scholar).

37 JRS XLIII, 1953, 83–4 and below, p. 132Google Scholar.

38 D. Atkinson, o.c.

39 Archaeologia LIV, 1894, 222–6Google Scholar.

40 JRS XL, 1950, 108Google Scholar.

41 Vict. Co. Hist. Somerset 1, 1906, 354 ff.Google Scholar; cf. JRS XLIII, 123.

42 Inventory of Hist. Mons. in Essex (RCHM) III, 1922, 193Google Scholar.

43 VCH, Berkshire I, 1906, 216 ffGoogle Scholar.

44 Inventory of Hist. Mons. in Hertfordshire (RCHM), 1911, 38.

45 Prehistoric Soc. Proc. VI, 1940, 30 ffGoogle Scholar.

46 Arch. Journal CIV, 1948, 27–81Google Scholar.

47 Wessex from the Air 1928, 158–160, pl. XXVI. Most of this area has been ploughed since Dr. Crawford's survey, and the boundaries of the ‘Celtic’ fields are gradually being levelled. They are, however, very clear as soil marks after ploughing.

48 Vict. Co. Hist. Hunts, 1, 1926, 254 fGoogle Scholar. See also above, p. 88, pl. XXI, 1.

49 Antiq. Journal XXIX, 1949, 145–163Google Scholar. JRS XXXVIII, 1948, 88 fGoogle Scholar.