Broadlea Temporary Camp 2

Marching or Temporary Camp

There is a small cluster of camps at Birrens and Broadlea, close to the Roman fort at Birrens, on fairly level ground in a landscape dominated by Burnswark hill to the northwest.

Broadlea Temporary Camp 2 lies immediately to the south of camp I and was recorded as cropmarks from the air in 1945 by St Joseph. It measures 120m from north-west to south-east by at least 103m, but the railway has destroyed its eastern side. It enclosed at least 1.3ha (3 acres) and probably around 1.8ha (4.5 acres). A titulus is visible on the south-east side, and a probable entrance gap on the south-west side. The south-west side of the camp appears to be routed through the central area of a Neolithic henge, with a gap marking the camp gate placed at one entrance to the henge and the camp corner placed at the other. This may indicate that the henge was still an upstanding earthwork at the time.

References for Birrens Camps

  • Air Reconnaissance of North Britain by J.K. St. Joseph in J.R.S. xli (1951) pp.57/8;
  • Britannia xxviii (1997) p.410/11 & fig.8.

Map References for Birrens Camps

NGRef: NY2174 OSMap: LR85

Roman Roads near Birrens Camps

None identified

Sites near Broadlea Temporary Camp 2