Auchtermuchty
Temporary Camp (Roman)
Site Name Auchtermuchty
Classification Temporary Camp (Roman)
Canmore ID 30297
Site Number NO21SW 17
NGR NO 24240 11850
NGR Description Centred NO 24240 11850
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/30297
- Council Fife
- Parish Auchtermuchty
- Former Region Fife
- Former District North East Fife
- Former County Fife
NO21SW 17 centred 24240 11850
NO 242 118 A Roman camp has been found by air-reconnaissance in uneven ground on the eastern outskirts of Auchtermuchty.
The whole of the SE side, with central gate, and sectors of each of the other three sides, together with the rounded south and east angles have been recorded. The 2000ft, an area of about 60 acres.
A section dug across the SE side just to the west of the gate revealed a typically Roman V-shaped ditch, 9ft wide and 5ft deep to the bottom of its drainage channel.
The proportions and area suggest a possible Flavian date.
J K S St Joseph 1958; 1965.
No visible remains. The outline was supplied at 1/2500 from air photographs.
Visited by OS (R D) 30 March 1967; Visible on J K St Joseph air photographs AGN 79, AKC 62, AKL 13.
A small attached annexe is suspected.
Information from G Maxwell (RCAHMS) 8 January 1973.
63 acre camp. Severan.
J K St Joseph 1969.
NO 242 118.
In September 1988 the site was threatened by the proposed installation of a storm-water drain to service a housing development under construction on the north side of the A91. The intended line of the drain cut the SE boundary of the camp and an area of cropmarked features (NO21SW 138). Two features were noted and interpreted as ditches. Ditch 1, which was interpreted as the SE boundary of the camp, was V-shaped 3m wide by c 1m deep. Ditch 2, which was located within the interior of the camp, was straight-sided and flat-bottomed and measured 1.7m wide by 0.4m deep. Both ditches were aligned SE/NW. There were no contexted finds from either feature.
An area measuring 4 x 40m was opened up to examine the cropmarked features within the camp. Four features were found within this area: a modern stone field drain, a large amorphous feature, probably natural and two interconnecting pits. One of the pits was circular, the other rectangular. The field drain and amorphorus feature were not excavated; the latter yielded modern pottery in the top of its fill. Medieval pottery and fragments of clay pipes were retrieved from one of the excavated pits.
Sponsor: Fife Regional Council. HBM-AOC
Duffy 1992.
NO 240 117. A watching brief conducted on a small development at 31 Cupar Road recorded a ditch feature in the site's S-facing baulk. The feature was on the projected line of the SW side of a Severan marching camp.
The ditch was cut into soft rock and measured 0.60m in depth and 2.35m in width. It had a rounded bottom, a moderately steep SE face and a shallow SW face, which had apparently been re-cut. One sherd of late medieval green glaze pottery was found in the main fill. Although the feature did not have the classic Roman V-shaped profile, its position, over the projected ditch line, strongly suggests that this cut represents the defensive ditch of the marching camp.
Sponsor: HS
R Cachart and A Williams 1992.
NO 238 120. Within the confines of the Roman temporary camp, close to its NW boundary, one engineers' inspection trench was observed prior to potential development. Circa 0.4m of a dark, sandy clay, garden soil was revealed overlying c0.7m of a mid-orange-brown clay subsoil. Natural pinkish, light-brown clay was encountered c1.1m below ground surface. No archaeological deposits or artefacts were discovered.
Sponsor: Historic Scotland.
J R Mackenzie 1993.
NO 2405 1176 Monitoring of contractors' foundation trenches, excavated to a depth of 0.4m, revealed a dark grey brown, sandy clay loam garden soil. No archaeological deposits, features or artefacts were present.
Sponsor: Historic Scotland.
J R Mackenzie 1994g.
NO 240 118 Trial excavations were carried out during March, in advance of house construction. The site lies on the projected line of the defences of a Roman Temporary Camp of Severan date. Excavation revealed the remains of spade cultivation, visible as two parallel, shallow cut features in a trench near to the road, however no trace was found of the defences.
Sponsor: Fife Regional Council.
EASE 1995.
NO 242 118 An archaeological watching brief was carried out during extensions to Auchtermuchty Primary School, located at the NW periphery of Auchtermuchty Roman temporary camp. Soil was stripped to a maximum depth of 0.75m. No deposits or artefacts of an archaeological nature were found.
Sponsor: Fife Regional Council Property Department.
G Wilson and H Moore 1996.
Aerial Photographic Transcription (31 December 1984 - 27 July 1990)
An aerial transcription was produced from oblique aerial photographs. Information from Historic Environment Scotland (BM) 31 March 2017.
Publication Account (17 December 2011)
The camp at Auchtermuchty was first recorded from the air by St Joseph in 1962 (St Joseph 1965, 82). It lies on the east side of the village of Auchtermuchty, some 7km south-east of the fort and camps at Carpow, and about 11km west of the camp at Edenwood. Parts of all four sides have been recorded over the years, indicating that the camp measured some 601m from north-west to south-east by 408m transversely, enclosing some 23.5ha (58 acres). A gap in the cropmark on the south-east side may represent the position of an entrance gap, but no other entrances are known. A possible annexe or attached camp is visible on its south-west side, lying to the west of the probable entrance. Here, a narrow ditch is visible running south-east at right-angles to the camp ditch, and a further narrow ditch is discernible in the neighbouring field, suggesting the possible south-east side of the annexe, with hints of a possible entrance gap and a titulus. The annexe measures some 106m by at least 100m, enclosing a minimum of 1.23ha
The camp has been subjected to numerous small-scale excavations and watching briefs, with the excavated ditch recorded as V-shaped, measuring 2.35-3m wide and 0.6-1.5m deep (RCAHMS St Joseph Collection: Notebook 3; St Joseph 1965, 82; Cachart and Williams 1992; Duffy 1993, 183). A watching brief in 1992 on the probable line of the south-west side of the camp recorded a round-bottomed ditch which measured 2.35m wide and 0.6m deep. The ditch had a small piece of medieval pottery in its fill, although the excavators interpreted the ditch as belonging to the Roman camp (Cachart and Williams 1992).
R H Jones 2011
