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The Roman Fort at Bury Barton, Devonshire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2011

Malcolm Todd
Malcolm Todd
Affiliation:
University of Exeter
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Extract

The site of Bury Barton lies on a rounded spur above the river Yeo, I kilometre south of Lapford in central Devonshire. Although the position is not notably elevated, a little over 90 metres above sea-level, it commands excellent views to the north-west along the Yeo valley, to the north-east up the little river Dalch, and to the south towards Dartmoor some 19 kilometres distant. The site is now occupied by a fine mediaeval farm and chapel, the property in the sixteenth century and earlier of the Bury family which took its name from the place. Domesday Book mentions the place-name Beria in the region and this is reasonably certainly the site under discussion. It has long been appreciated that the mediaeval establishment overlies a series of prominent earthworks, the date and purpose of which, however, have until recently remained unclear. These can now be shown to be the defences of two distinct Roman military works, the smaller a fort about 1.9 hectares (4.5 acres) in area, the larger either a camp or a campaign-base up to 8 hectares (19.2 acres) in extent.

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Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 16 , November 1985, pp. 49 - 55
Copyright
Copyright © Malcolm Todd 1985. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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References

1 Alcock, N. W., Trans, of the Devonshire Association xcviii (1966), 105–32.Google Scholar

2 Reichel, O. J., Trans, of the Devonshire Association xxxiii (1901), 586, 627.Google Scholar

3 I am very grateful to Professor St. Joseph for copies of these photographs.Google Scholar

4 This work was supported by the Haverfield Fund of the University of Oxford, and by the University of Exeter.

5 The most recent statements on the subject are by Maxfield, V. A. in Hanson, W. S. and Keppie, L. J. F. (eds.), Roman Frontier Studies 1979 (1980), 297–310 and by the writer in the forthcoming proceedings of the 13th. Limeskongress held at Aalen in 1983.Google Scholar

6 Most notably flanged bowls in black-burnished ware, probably of second- or early third-century date.

7 Ravenna 105, 47: Nemetotacio, var. NemetotatioGoogle Scholar. Richmond, and Crawford, , Archaeologia xciii (1949), 42Google Scholar suggested Nemetostatio, but placed the site in Cornwall, for no good reason. This is the most likely emendation. Rivet, and Smith, , The Place-Nantes of Roman Britain (London, 1979), 424–5 add Nemeto-totatio as a further possibility, but an ending in statio is more convincing.Google Scholar