About

Castleshaw Roman Forts refers to a ‘double Roman camp’ at the head of the Castleshaw valley, Saddleworth, consisting of the first Roman Fort built in about 79 AD, then abandoned by approximately 95 AD. Around ten years later the second, smaller, fortlet was established within the southern half of the original fort area.  It functioned for around twenty years but by 125 AD Roman occupation there had come to an end.

Read more about this and the story from then to now in the histories given in the blog itself.

In 2012 people living in the Saddleworth area were invited to be part of a group known as ‘The Friends of Castleshaw Roman Forts’.  They could take part as either members or more actively as part of the committee running the group.  The committee took on the task of taking forward the following broad aims:

• to promote the advancement of education by developing public interest in all aspects of the archaeological and environmental heritage of the Castleshaw Roman Forts;
• to support the implementation of the Conservation Management Plan for the site;
• to help to address short term issues relating to preservation and enjoyment of the Castleshaw Roman Forts Scheduled Monument;
• to support approaches to researching and presenting the archaeology/history of the Castleshaw Valley.

As part of this process a detailed plan for a community project dig was set up, and, with the aid of a substantial grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the plan would finally swing into action on 7th July 2014, the start of the 4-week programme of excavations.

This blog gives an outline of the prehistory and history of the Forts and follows the path of antiquarian and archaeological endeavours at the site. There will be informal reporting on a day-to-day basis, aiming to give a flavour of what we find, how it is interpreted, and who is involved, from archaeologists to diggers to visitors. You can find additional information, including specific documentation for members, at our website –www.castleshawarchaeology.co.uk

We hope you enjoy the blog and would love to receive your comments!

PB (Webmaster) and JN (Bloggerina)