Buckton Park Temporary Camp

Marching or Temporary Camp

Buckton Park Marching Camp is in close proximity to the fort at Buckton, which lies only 150 metres (c.490 feet) to the south-east, has led to it being identified as the work-camp which temporarily housed the legionary builders of the fort. This would mean, of course, that the two were contemporary, in which instance the camp would have been built sometime around 90AD.

Only three sides and adjoining angles of this camp have been traced, the remaining (north) side being on the same alignment as the service road for Buckton Park Farm, and subsequently obscured by it. Although the south-west corner-angle is nicely rounded in true Roman fashion, the south-east corner is unusually sharp. The RCHME records the possibility of a gap or causeway in the middle of the south side. There are signs of disturbance within the camp’s south-west corner.

One mile and a half south-west of Leintwardine. The position of this small work is naturally defended on the south by the River Teme. The mount is of unusual form, being oval and having the western portion higher than the rest, an arrangement which may not be part of the original plan. The moat surrounding the mount was evidently once much deeper, and water from the stream could either wash round or at flood times be caught and dammed up; the eastern portion of the moat has been filled up to form a croquet lawn, and other portions are also more or less destroyed. The mill is probably of ancient date, and the race, which is a cutting from the Teme, five-eighths of a mile west, was made both to fill the castle ditch and work the mill, a common custom with the Normans.” (V.C.H. Herefordshire)

Map References for Buckton Park Camp

References for Buckton Park Camp

  • Roman Camps in England – The Field Archaeology by the R.C.H.M.E. Victoria County History – Herefordshire Vol.1 (1908) pp.224/5 & fig. p.225.

Roman Roads near Buckton Park Camp

None identified

Sites near Buckton Park Temporary Camp