Yarborough Camp ~ A Roman Fort in Lincolnshire
Yarborough Camp ~ Roman Hillfort in Lincolnshire
As part of a recent historical tour I took with Chris Keyworth I visited a hill fort at Croxton
Croxton is right by Kirmington and once again part of Lord Yarborough’s Brocklesby Estate and fine expansive woodlands.
It’s a decent hike up to the hillfort, now inside relatively recently planted woods, and the defensive benefits become immediately apparent. What also becomes immediately apparent is the encroaching chalk quarry quite literally right next door !
You can look at the site on an Ordnance Survey map but it doesn’t prepare you for the scale of the place - only standing in the middle of it will do that.
I’ve tried to capture something of the scale of the earthworks in the picture below. These pictures seldom convey things as I’d wish but it gives you some idea at least of the scale of this extensive site
Yarborough Camp ~ Roman Fort Earthworks
It was a fabulous visit, although the weather was against us, standing inside such a historic site is truly awe inspiring and as I always seem to be saying “just imagine what’s gone here before me”.
It is something that should be preserved and shared.
Sadly, the site appeared to me to be less than cared for, subsequent research today has shown the site to be on the English Heritage at Risk List.
Described as a ‘large univallate hillfort’ having ‘major localised problems’ and ‘in decline’ !
This is more than just a shame, something really needs to be done to protect what’s left of our historic heritage in Lincolnshire !
I know it’s all about money nowadays but this site is situated between a massive quarry on one side and Lord Yarborough’s land on the other.
The earth has given up enough riches to the quarriers and Lord Yarborough is comfortably above the Poverty Line - with massive land ownership comes responsibility!
Any way enough ranting some more of the history and archaeology of Yarbrough Camp.
The main earthworks cover an area of some 90m by 70m with some points up to 3 m in height. There have been flint scrapers and the like found on the surface as well as a 14th century gold fibula (brooch).
There are reports of hoards of Roman coins being found in the 1800s not to mention anecdotal talk of finds in the 1930s.
The corners of the for, possibly bastions, are mentioned as being ‘a unique feature’ in an Anglo-Saxon history book !
I’ve yet to find any officially recorded finds though neither have I been able to establish a reliable estimated date for the site.
It’s quite clear that this site demands some serious work and close scrutiny.
We are always very keen to learn more so if you know anything at all about this site perhaps you’ve visited etc or just have an opinion - please do leave a comment
All the best
Rod
History Hunter said,
March 15, 2010 @ 3:20 pm
Now this one is interesting…..near my workplace, a large aeronautical establishment, so sometime soon hopefully when there have been a few days of sun, i may just go have a look.
Incidentally on the map you show above, you have circled an area next to the main road in Croxton. But further to the left it clearly shows the position of Yarborough Camp being alongside the quarry. Is the Roman Hill Fort all part of the Camp or was it completely separate?
Is it worth me having a sneeky peeky at both areas, take a few pics etc?
Is there anywhere i could submit photos to, should i take any half decent ones, so everyone else can see them?
History Hunter said,
March 15, 2010 @ 3:48 pm
Just been googling the area and saw this.
Take a look……
53°35′54.63″N 0°22′18.26″W
Possible Church or Abbey in the centre of the field?
Elongated dark areas could be where the field has been ploughed out over time?
Or just natural phenomena?
Amiguru said,
April 25, 2010 @ 11:01 pm
Rod,
Simple question:
Does anyone know what is in Major Wood?
Regards,
Neville
chris keyworth said,
April 25, 2010 @ 11:09 pm
where is it nev??
chris keyworth said,
April 25, 2010 @ 11:29 pm
Nev
you threw me there posting that question on this thread, i knew it rang bells yes apart from a sping and a load of medieval fishponds thats about all i know but then agaim ive not really explored it that much although me and rod did walk through it when we went walking around newsham area..
regards
chris…
Rod said,
April 26, 2010 @ 8:07 am
Neville,
simple question but it’s beaten me Neville - can’t seem to spot it on the map either.
Sounds interesting Neville . . .
Best
Rod
chris keyworth said,
April 26, 2010 @ 10:00 am
at the end of newsham lake Rod the spring end..
regards
chris..
Amiguru said,
April 26, 2010 @ 12:05 pm
Chris & Rod,
Yes its at TA12698 12894 between the B1211 and Newsham Lake. The reason it is on this thread is that I am surveying the whole area for high spot anomalies which might indicate activity at some point in the past. The surrounding fields immediately around the wood are in the range of 47-53 feet above datum but the wood itself is reading up to 113 feet in the centre!
Just thought an onsite check might be fruitful on the ground to confirm or deny the data. Don’t make a special trip but please check when next in the vicinity. Thanks.
Regards,
Nev
Rod said,
April 26, 2010 @ 7:35 pm
Neville,
I hope to revisit the area, hopefully with Chris, again at some point and we’ll try and look into everything possible and get it covered on the site
Best
Rod
Jack Yarbrough said,
February 11, 2011 @ 6:20 am
Rod,
I am glad to have found your site and would appreciate any other information about the origin of the name Yarbrough or Yarborough you may have that the normal channels do not have. Thank you
Rod said,
February 11, 2011 @ 7:59 am
Hi Jack,
thanks for the comment and welcome to the site - anything that comes to light generally goes on the site.
Regards
Rod
Kate said,
February 11, 2011 @ 1:09 pm
Hello Jack (and Rod!),
According to the Institute for Name-Studies based at Nottingham University, it comes from the Old English “Eorth-burg” - the INS translation is “earthwork” but it can just as easily mean “earth fort/stronghold”and so on - thus a wonderfully descriptive name! Sadly this gives us no idea as to what the name may have been during the Roman settlement of the area, I can’t find any clues so far. I did find references to the Roman fort originating from the Claudian period, but I need to do more reading.
Chris K, are you about? Do you know of any Iron Age finds round Yarborough that might indicate pre-Roman occupation of the site? I’ve found some on DFDS from Kirmington, that amongst other things, indicate there was a site of worship there pre the Roman temple. All the literature so far points to the start of use of the camp during the Roman period. I can’t think of anything that’s come through PAS in the last few years.
One thing I found curious (as did Rod); desperate as we are for trees and woodland in our county, according to English Heritage, the primary reason that the fort is on the at risk register is because of the scrub and tree growth on the fort. Doesn’t Lord Y have it managed at all? Surely he could spare a few quid from his several millions, probably get some sort of grant aid to coppice it to provide a sustainable fuel source
and provide local employment to boot 
… not to mention preserve a hugely valuable piece of our history and heritage for the future.
Best wishes
Kate
Chris Keyworth said,
February 11, 2011 @ 8:15 pm
Hi Kate/ Rod / jack
Answer to your question kate is yes, only two weeks ago the site to the north of the camp was under evaluation the Archies they were all over it like a rash its the site of quite alot of Ring ditches, i think there planning to put a pipeline through it again .
the woods is a strange place but i think yarbrough is planning to make money from it in the way of quarrying the stone out sadly destroying the camp itself, the quarry gets closer and closer every year and the trees get hit by the weather quite bad with it being ontop of the hill,
there is / was quite alot of ironage sites in and around croxton and kirmington…
regards
chris
Kate said,
February 11, 2011 @ 10:19 pm
Hi Chris,
many thanks
.
That’s a pretty dismal state of affairs isn’t it, how on earth does Lord Y get away with it? Destruction of sites like this is nothing short of vandalism
I know this has been a bone of contention for a long time. I can’t see why the trees, at least on the embankments, couldn’t be removed - they don’t look like ancient woodland; it’s almost as if the excuse of “oh well, it’s all starting to fall down anyway” is a legit reason to get on with enlarging the quarry. Detector users get castigated for what they do, and ok, Kirmington and the area has real problems with nighthawking, but the big mi££ionare landowners can get away with it and seem to steamroller over the laws that apply to everyone else…
Kate
Chris Keyworth said,
February 11, 2011 @ 10:51 pm
I think the vast majority of people share a common view with regards to lord Ys land They all think he has to much they think it is managed irisponsibly and the fact he lets no one on it to detects infuriates 95% of the detecting population of our area, he fails to understand that all metal detectorists are not out for just one thing, Money. heritage and the great unknown is the major drive behind most detectoristsin our area, most metal detector will only detect down a max of 12 / 18 inches lord Y ploughs most of his land in this depth range i for one tend not to dig deep targets as for one i cant be bothered and 2 its normally iron which dosn’t really interest me. i have said this in the past when Archaeologists move onto a site they discard the topsoil where most of the detector finds are made so they carnt argue that it is doing damage to the site as all the finds made in the topsoil are unstratified so bare no value to a site othan an aproximate date range… in my view Lord Y should let the detectorists on like they have at Brough near Lincoln charge a day fee and insist all finds are recorded this will put a stop to the night hawking of the sites on Lord Ys land and keep the detectorists happy aswell as increece the knollage range of the sites.
while he insists on barring metal detectorists on his land he will attract the night hawkes the only way to stop it is to let them on under strict licence, this will end it over night and improve the security of the sites.
regards
chris