Archaeological Excavations at Templeborough Roman Fort

Abstract

Excavations were undertaken on the site of the former Roman Fort at Templeborough prior to its redevelopment. These were the first major works on the site since 1917 when Thomas May undertook a rescue excavation during the construction of Templeborough Steelworks and identified three phases of fort construction. It was thought that the steelworks construction had largely destroyed the Roman fort, but the recent work demonstrated that localised, if heavily truncated, remains of the fort and vicus did survive. Although truncated, the ditch bases demonstrated the fort defences were more extensive and complicated than previously thought and that two main phases of activity were associated with these ditches. Despite the limited survival of the fort remains, the work undertaken has enabled a reassessment of May’s excavations, including a reinterpretation of the development and phasing of Templeborough Roman Fort.

Keywords:

• Roman
• fort
• ditches
• truncation

Acknowledgements

This report summarises the results of archaeological evaluations and excavations carried out by ARCUS; the works were directed by Ben Chan and Michael McCoy, and were undertaken by ARCUS field staff. The post-excavation analysis and publication were carried out by ArcHeritage. Full specialist reports were undertaken on all of the major artefact categories. It was not possible to include the full reports here but copies have been deposited with the archive in Clifton Park Museum, Rotherham, and the South Yorkshire Archaeology Service SMR. The author wishes to acknowledge the contribution made by all site staff and specialists. The contribution of the specialists who worked on the artefact assemblages were invaluable in reinterpreting the site, in particular the work of R. Leary, G. Monteil, J. McComish, N. Rodgers, R. Cubitt, L. Wright, and H. Wilmott; however, the conclusions, and any errors, are the author's alone. We are grateful to Jim McNeil and Winsze Lam, for guiding the project through the planning processes, and to Patrick Herbert of Jaguar Estates for funding the project.