New excavations take place at Ilkley's Roman fort

Bradford Telegraph and Argus ^ | Wednesday 22nd January 2014 | unattributed

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An archaeological dig aims to uncover new information about Ilkley’s ancient Roman fort and the lives of the soldiers who once lived there.

Archaeologists are digging trial trenches on Castle Hill - close to the Manor House Museum and All Saints Parish Church.

The site was opened up for members of the public to visit today and find out more about the explorations unde way.

The investigation has been instructed by property developer, Burley Developments, in consultation with English Heritage and West Yorkshire Archaeological Advisory Service.

Burley Developments is hoping to develop the plot, which is on the site of former Glovers Garage land, for housing - but first needs to find out if Roman remains lie beneath.

On-Site Archaeology Ltd of York is undertaking trial trenching on Castle Hill just outside the west gate of the fort.

The history of the Roman fort at Ilkley - said by some to be named Olicana - is based largely on early 20th Century excavations in the north-western quadrant and a single trench through the defences excavated in 1962.

The fort is thought to have been established in the late first century AD, on a knoll overlooking the River Wharfe, as part of the Governor Agricola’s campaigns of conquest in the Pennine region.

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Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Site officer James Stanley in one of the trenches

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Reconstruction of the original wood and turf fort:

It was replaced by a stone fort that was abandoned in the 4th or 5th Century. Remains can be seen today. The site is in Yorkshire. Support and backup for the Wall defenses?

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Thanks ct. Permanent forts were built to accommodate legions on busy routes, to obviate the need for whipping up a temporary walled camp. The Roman presence in Britain largely consisted of a fairly thin spread of regular legions, with auxiliaries from elsewhere in the Empire (and my favorite example, Sarmatian cavalry) who were even less popular than the Romans themselves. The truth is, Roman Britain was probably a great place to live. By the time the legions were withdrawn for good, the Romanized Celtic populations were already under stress by Saxon invaders, and most lacked any experience with warfare (unlike their ancestors).

In the Near East, the legions were deployed in small forts along the frontier; they had cohort-sized forts (or smaller), and this Ilkley fort was probably garrisoned by a fairly small permanent group.