Excavations at Roughbirchworth

Monday 18 August 2025 2:09 pm

The oval embanked enclosure at Roughbirchworth has been known of for a long time, called the ‘Roman camp’ on early maps.

A small group of us visited on an open morning on 12 August to see how the dig was progressing on the site, which is in such a beautiful location high up on a level terrace overlooking the Don valley, with stunning views over towards Penistone. Fieldwork has been going on at the site since 2017, with extensive geophysical surveys and several seasons of test-pitting and excavation since. The enclosure is divided by a field wall and the research to date has been on the western half; the bank and ditch are slightly visible on the ground and more so as the wall crosses them. The enclosure consists of an outer ditch and internal bank, with a possible external counterscarp bank.

The excavation is being led by Barry Tylee, and supervised by Tom Parker, with grant funding from the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society.

Roughbirchworth Dig Aug25

Parking in a field, we had a short walk into the next one, where four trenches were open. Three were following the line of the circular bank and ditch which showed up very clearly, as it did on a recent Ground Penetrating Radar survey, the ditch possibly as much as 2m deep. There was clear evidence of destruction with bank material thrust into the ditch. One trench was in the middle of the enclosure.

We look forward to hearing more about the findings – dating evidence up to now has been elusive.