Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T15:15:21.921Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Roman Military Occupation at Hembury (Devon)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2010

Malcolm Todd
Malcolm Todd
Affiliation:
Exeter
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The large hillfort at Hembury, near Honiton (Devon) is one of the most impressive late prehistoric sites in South-West England. Occupied in the Neolithic and Iron Age, it was taken over by a Roman force about or shortly before A.D. 50. Substantial timber buildings were constructed, including a probable fabrica, in which iron from the adjacent Blackdown hills was worked. The Roman site was abandoned by the early Flavian period and not reoccupied. Though not evidently a conventional fort, Hembury joins a list of hillforts in South-West England which were used by the Roman army in the early decades of conquest. These include Hod Hill and possibly Maiden Castle (Dorset), Ham Hill and South Cadbury (Somerset).

Keywords

Roman BritainRoman armyIron Age hillfortsHembury (Devon)Roman coinssamianChalbury (Dorset)
Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 38 , November 2007 , pp. 107 - 123
Copyright
Copyright © Malcolm Todd 2007. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barrett, J.C., Freeman, P.W.M., and Woodward, A. 2000: Cadbury Castle, Somerset. The Later Prehistoric and Early Historic Archaeology, LondonGoogle Scholar
Bidwell, P.T. 1979: The Legionary Bath-house and Basilica and Forum at Exeter, Exeter Arch. Reports 1, ExeterGoogle Scholar
Bushe-fox, J.P. 1949: Report on Excavations at the Roman Fort of Richborough IV, OxfordCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fingerlin, G. 1981: ‘Die Toranlage des frührömischen Lagers auf dem Limberg bei Sasbach’, Archäologische Ausgrabungen in Baden-Württemburg 16, 96–100Google Scholar
Fitzpatrick, A.P. et al. 1999: Prehistoric and Roman Sites in East Devon: the A30 Honiton to Exeter Improvement Scheme, 1996–9. Vol. 2. Roman-British Sites, Wessex Arch. Reports 16, SalisburyGoogle Scholar
Fox, A., and Ravenhill, W. 1972: ‘The Roman fort at Nanstallon, Cornwall’, Britannia 3, 56–111CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frere, S.S. 1987: ‘Brandon Camp, Herefordshire’, Britannia 18, 49–92Google Scholar
Griffth, F.M. 1984: ‘Roman military sites in Devon: some recent discoveries’, Proc. Devon Arch. Soc. 42, 11–32Google Scholar
Hawkes, C.F.C., and Hull, M.R. 1947: Camulodunum, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Holbrook, N., and Bidwell, P.T. 1991: Roman Finds from Exeter, Exeter Arch. Reports 4, ExeterGoogle Scholar
Holbrook, N., and Shiel, N. 2002: ‘A Claudian coin hoard from Roborough, Devon’, Proc. Devon Arch. Soc. 60, 215–18Google Scholar
Liddell, D.M. 1930: ‘Report on the excavations at Hembury, Devon’, Proc. Devon Arch. Exploration Soc. 1, 1–24Google Scholar
Liddell, D.M. 1931: ‘Report of the excavations at Hembury fort, Devon’, Proc. Devon Arch. Exploration Soc. 1, 90–120Google Scholar
Liddell, D.M. 1932; ‘Report on the excavations at Hembury fort’, Proc. Devon Arch. Exploration Soc. 1, 162–90Google Scholar
Liddell, D.M. 1935: ‘Report on the excavations at Hembury fort (1934 and 1935)’, Proc. Devon Arch. Exploration Soc. 2, 135–75Google Scholar
Maxfeld, V.A. 1991: ‘Tiverton Roman fort (Bolham): excavations 1981–86’, Proc. Devon Arch. Soc. 49, 25–98Google Scholar
Metzler, J. 1984: ‘Das treverische Oppidum auf dem Titelberg (Luxemburg)’, Trier. Augustusstadt der Treverer, Mainz, 68–78Google Scholar
Richmond, I.A. 1968: Hod Hill II, LondonGoogle Scholar
Riley, H., and Wilson-north, R. 2001: The Field Archaeology of Exmoor, SwindonGoogle Scholar
Sage, A., and Allan, J. 2004: ‘The early Roman military defences, late Roman burials and later features at the Topsham School, Topsham’, Proc. Devon Arch. Soc. 62, 1–40Google Scholar
Schönberger, H. 1978: Kastell Oberstimm, BerlinGoogle Scholar
Silvester, R.J., and Bidwell, P.T. 1984: ‘A Roman site at Woodbury, Axminster’, Proc. Devon Arch. Soc. 42, 33–57Google Scholar
Sutherland, C.H.V., and Carson, R.A.G. 1984: The Roman Imperial Coinage Vol. I (rev. edn), London (Abbreviated to RIC)Google Scholar
Todd, M. 1984a: ‘Excavations at Hembury (Devon), 1980–83: a summary report’, Antiq. Journ. 64, 251–68CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Todd, M. 1984b: ‘The early Roman phase at Maiden Castle’ Britannia. 15, 254–5Google Scholar
Todd, M. 1985: ‘Oppida and the Roman army. A review of recent evidence’, Oxford Journ. Arch. 4, 187–99Google Scholar
Todd, M. 1986: ‘Die Ausgrabungen in Hembury (Devon) und die römische Eroberung Südwest Englands’, Studien zu den Militärgrenzen Roms III, Stuttgart, 64–8Google Scholar
Todd, M. 1993: ‘An Arretine vessel from Hembury’, Proc. Devon Arch. Soc. 51, 208–9Google Scholar
Todd, M. 2002a: ‘The Roman fort and later Roman site at Bury Barton’, Proc. Devon Arch. Soc. 60, 37–58Google Scholar
Todd, M. 2002b: ‘The cross-dykes at Hembury’, Proc. Devon Arch. Soc. 60, 207–10Google Scholar
Webster, G. 1958: ‘The Roman military advance under Ostorius Scapula’, Antiq. Journ. 115, 49–98Google Scholar
Wheeler, R.E.M. 1943: Maiden Castle Dorset, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Whitley, M. 1943: ‘Excavations at Chalbury Camp, Dorset 1939’, Antiq. Journ. 23, 98–121Google Scholar