Ancaster Roman Fort

Claudian Auxiliary Fort (AD 43–54)

Ancaster is a small Roman town on Ermine Street preceded by a fort and an extensive Iron Age settlement.  The Claudian fort at Ancaster can be identified by a pair of ditches outside the later settlement’s western defenses. The fort was abandoned by no later than AD 80.

The structural remains of the Iron Age settlement are slight but the material (Gallo-Belgic imports, Coritanian coins and fine pottery) suggest an occupation down to the Roman conquest. Knowledge of the fort is limited to a pair of ditches of different profiles, probably representing two structural phases: it is not certain even whether they represent the N Side of the fort or the S. It was probably established before AD 47 and abandoned in the early Flavian period.

The next fort along the route is at Ancaster (No 71), where the river Slea cuts through the Jurassic ridge. Excavations have produced details of the defences and a possible gate. The size of the fort is not yet known although the east-west width has been suggested as 420 feet.” (Webster)

Ancaster formerly was identified as Cavsennae of the Antonine Itinerary (a) but the mileage is wrong and the name is now applied to Saltersford at SK 927334.

Sites near Ancaster Roman Fort