RD131

Esgairperfedd Marching Camp  

 

Designated  

Powys  

Rhayader  

292364  

269903  

Defence  

Marching Camp  

Roman  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument. The monument comprises the remains of a Roman marching camp, probably dating from the conquest of Wales by the Romans in the first century AD (probably around AD 74 - 77). It was built as a temporary camp by a marching army as units of the Roman legions pushed west. The Esgairperfedd Marching Camp is located on the eastern slopes of an east to west mountain spur where the ground falls away on all sides except the west. It measures c.270m east-west by c.235m and is defined by a turf-covered rampart c.0.4m high and between c.2m and c.3m wide; this has been lost at the south-eastern and south-western corners. Entrances facing north, east and south are protected by internal claviculae, of which the best preserved is that on the north. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of Roman military organisation. The monument forms an important element within the wider context of the Roman occupation of Wales and the structure itself may be expected to contain archaeological information in regard to chronology, building techniques and functional detail. The scheduled area comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.