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Greater Manchester Archaeology Festival
Event organised by The Friends of Castleshaw Roman Forts for SATURDAY 24TH JUNE
2017.
This event provides an opportunity to be shown around the fascinating remains of the Roman Fort and Fortlet at Castleshaw, and to see archaeological investigations in action at the site.
The Romans occupied the site for less than 50 years. We now know a lot about the small fortlet established in the around AD 105 on the site of the earlier Agricolan turf and timber fort, but there are many questions to answer about the layout of the first fort which was erected around AD 79.
This is your chance to understand what we know about the site and what we hope to find out through our current investigations.
There will be an opportunity to have a go at geophysical survey and to learn about future plans for this important monument.
Guided walks will take place at 11am, 12.30pm and 2pm.
They will start from the public car park on Waterworks Lane (off the A62), near the Castleshaw Centre, Delph. Sensible footwear required.
Map.Although free you will need to book to secure
places on the tours, please see
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/greater-manchester-archaeology-festival-tickets-34500856992 |
Click the Poster below to see the Blog of the Mytholme Mill excavation
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Map location of Mytholme Mill
here |
The Report for the 2014 Fort
Excavations is now available, Please see the Membership page for details
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May 2014
The
Friends of Castleshaw Roman Forts were awarded a major grant from
the Heritage Lottery Fund to support its research into the area's Roman
history. We were given £70,100 to carry out a fresh excavation of
the site.
This has been concluded, please see the blogs to
the right.
The final report is in preparation.
Please see the hlf
page for further details
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See the July 2014 excavation diary at the Castleshaw Blog ...
Plus
read all about the Castleshaw Roman Day Conference....
And the
Mytholme Mill investigation in Blog2
Press the 'Blog' buttons below
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.. and dont forget to Follow the blog to get updates delivered to you.
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Castleshaw through the ages ... press the
buttons below the map.
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By the 1980s Castleshaw Roman Fort was in need of some care and
attention.
While most of the underlying archaeology was still intact the surface
was badly pitted and spoiled by centuries of digging by various
antiquarians and archaeologists.
 A
visit to Castleshaw in 1980 was a difficult experience. Visually it was
a mess and it was difficult to make out the lines of the walls. The
lunar landscape left by previous diggers had been colonised by moorland
vegetation and it was difficult to walk over it.
Something needed to be done to preserve and protect what
is a valuable archaeological site.
In 1984 a conservation exercise was undertaken on the fortlet. This
removed the spoil heaps, reinstated the bank and ditch and conserved
the interior of the fortlet.
The main outer fort wasn't touched and still requires
a similar programme of restoration and conservation.
Castleshaw Roman Fort Future 
The major challenge we now face is how best to enhance
the public's
experience of the forts without jeopardising any of those factors which
make the place so special.
The aim of the Castleshaw Conservation Management Plan
is to improve
the interpretation of the site and the publics experience of the
forts.
This is there the Friends come in ..
With targeted excavations within the fort and the surrounding area we
aim to increase the knowledge about the fort and its environs, search
for missing Roman features such as the Bathhouse and reinstate damaged
areas of the outer fort.
We hope to include the Saddleworth community and schools in our
activities, including the onsite work and offsite research into the
existing archives and finds collections and bring a digitised library
to this website.
We are grateful for the support of the
following
In 2012 the Friends Saddleworth
Archaeological Trust (FoSAT) merged with the Friends of
Castleshaw Roman Forts.
The Archived website of FoSAT is available here and includes various newsletters which may be of interest. |
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