Years of digging in the archives brings Ivan to site of lost roman fort
ENGINEER BELIEVES HE HAS CALCULATED LOCATION BESIDE A38
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A 14-YEAR quest by a retired engineer to find the location of the only known Roman fort in the Burton area could be nearing an end.
Ivan Wain, from Castle Donington, has been looking into Burton’s history from the Roman period and thinks he now knows where it was situated.
Mr Wain thinks the fort was near Branston on the route of what is now the A38, but which was originally the Roman Rykneld Street. He said he has based his conclusions on measurements of where it was positioned.
Rykneld Street may have also been crossed on the southern edge of Branston by a Roman road from Leicester.
Mr Wain said: “Burton did have a Roman road which ran from Wall, in Lichfield, to Branston to Wellington Road, Derby Street and in Stretton and the A38, following the route of what is now the A38.
“It is known there was a Roman road from Wall near to Lichfield to the Roman fort on Darley Park from where the Roman settlement of Little Chester developed.
“Excavation evidence at Little Chester suggests that it was not a fort, but a settlement, and finding a partial crop mark of a double ditched enclosure on Darley Park, just 500 metres to the north of Little Chester on Darley Park seems to verify this.
“The site of this double-ditched enclosure also fits better with the known Roman road system in that area. The many Roman roads, both known and a number as yet unpublished, that I have evidence for shows that Roman forts were placed 20km apart, plus or minus 500 metres.
“The sites had to be in a defendable area and, where possible, to have two sources of water. One for consumption and the other for their ablutions [bathing]. There was also a small fort or fortlet sited halfway between the two forts, again where possible, to have at least one source of water.
“This means that there would have been a fort in Bean’s Covert, Branston, or within 500m of Bean’s Covert. Old maps show that there was a stream flowing towards Ordish’s Covert, which was about 600m to the north east of Bean’s
Covert. “Unfortunately the canal has disturbed the streams in that area, but the contours suggest that the two streams joining together on the eastern side of Lawns Farm would have flowed towards the River Trent somewhere in the region of either Bean’s Covert or Ordish’s Covert.
“Old maps show a stream flowing to Ordish’s Covert which seems to have had its course altered, as it is straight before and after it passes under the railway line.
“Also on the old maps there seems to have been a further stream going to Bean’s Covert which again seems to have been straightened and which joined the other stream at Ordish’s Covert.
“It is unfortunate that the area is now covered by industrial developments. However, it is certain that there would have been a fort here.”
Mr Wain hopes to publish his findings but does not believe there is the money available for an experienced archaeologist to excavate the site. There has previously been the suggestion that there was a camp south at Branston, which is derived from the supposed existence of a Roman settlement in that area called Ad Trivonam.
Last year, Burton historian David Adkins revealed the town was once in the vicinity of the Roman site of Ad Trivonam, dating back more than 2,000 years.
The Roman name of the town, which includes ‘tri’ meaning three, he believes could have played a part in the creation of the famous red triangle logo used by one of Burton best known former breweries, Bass.
The red triangle is also known for being the world’s first registered trademark.
The Roman invasion of Britain first started in 55 BC with Julius Caesar. However, the conquest was a gradual process, when overall rule began in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius and being largely completed by AD 87.