Broxtowe Roman Fort has been dated to around 50 or 60AD, which both confirms an early military presence in the area and shows the Roman army underlining its dominance. The site now lies buried beneath a housing estate in the north-western outskirts of Nottingham.

In 1937 workmen digging the foundations and drains of the new Broxtowe housing estate in north west Nottingham found three Roman coins. Further digging revealed the floor of a building described as a ‘large hut, rich with coins and other relics’.

In 1964 a ditch was revealed by civil engineering works on the north slope of the hill upon which the Broxtowe Estate stands. The Thoroton Society Archaeological Section excavated the end of this ditch and found a few pieces of metalwork some pottery and fragments of lava quern dating to 50-75 AD.

The significance of various artefacts recovered from the site was not realized until they were later identified as Roman. These finds included a scabbard-mount typical of that encasing a Roman legionary gladius, but these type of weapons were also used by certain auxiliary units so this cannot be taken as evidence of a legionary garrison here.

References for Broxtowe

  • Roman Britain by Peter Salway (Oxford 1981).
  • http://priorieshistoricalsociety.blogspot.com/2011/10/article-what-did-romans-ever-do-for-us/l

Roman Roads near Broxtowe

None identified

Sites near Broxtowe Roman Fort