Description
This monument is a section of the Antonine Wall which runs up to the top of Golden Hill from the W. It includes the surviving remains of one of the Antonine Wall forts.
The fort is a complex structure of three phases, including an early fortlet, a later fort and annexe. The fortlet was defined by a rampart and ditch with an entrance on the NW side. The fort and annexe were defined by ramparts and had three ditches on the SW and SE and a single ditch to the NE.
The Antonine Wall has an additional outer ditch to protect the fort and annex from the N. To the NW is the site of the bathhouse of the fort. Faint traces of the earthworks of the fort and fortlet survive in the park and a small area of rampart base within a fenced enclosure is visible between the fort and the bathhouse sites.
This proposal forms part of a programme which is intended to improve and update the scheduling of the Antonine Wall.
The area to be scheduled is a maximum of 270m WNW-ESE by a maximum of 184m N-S, to include the Antonine Wall rampart, berm (area between rampart and ditch), ditch and upcast mound; the fort and annexe and their associated ditches, and an area to the N and S where traces of activities associated with the construction and use of the Wall may survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map extract.
The scheduled area is defined on its W side by the boundary of the park. At its NW corner the scheduled area follows the boundary around the Parish Church and then skirts around the War Memorial. The scheduled area then follows property boundaries along the river bank and then runs 30m NE of the N limit of the Antonine Wall ditch, to include the upcast mound and an area beyond it in which traces of activities associated with the construction and use of the Antonine Wall and the fort may survive.
The south boundary of the scheduled area is marked by the edge of the park except that the SW corner of the park is excluded. The top 50cm of the surface of the playground and of the paths within the scheduled area is excluded from the scheduling to enable minor repair and alterations to these areas without the need for scheduled monument consent.