Slack Roman Fort facts for kids

Slack Roman Fort was a small Roman fort, also known as a castellum, located near Outlane. This area is west of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England. Today, the fort's site is a scheduled monument, which means it's a very important historical place protected by law.

The fort's ruins are no longer visible above ground. It was built next to a Roman road that crossed the Pennines mountains. This road connected Deva Victrix (which is now Chester) to Eboracum (which is now York). Some historians think Slack Roman Fort might be the place called Cambodunum in old Roman travel guides.

Archaeologists have dug up the site to learn more about it. They found that the fort was built in AD 79 using turf and wood. Its main job was to protect the Roman road during the time of a Roman general named Gnaeus Julius Agricola. Outside the fort, there was a stone bath-house where soldiers could wash. This bath-house was made bigger around AD 104 and AD 120. A small village, called a vicus, also grew up outside the fort walls. This village had wooden huts where civilians lived.

In 2016, a retired professor named Peter Field suggested that Slack Roman Fort could be a possible location for the famous mythical place, Camelot.

Where Was Slack Roman Fort Located?

The fort was built on a gentle slope, protected by a nearby hill. This hill rises about 366 meters (1,200 feet) above sea level. The site is about 6.4 kilometers (4 miles) from Huddersfield. Most of it is south of the modern M62 motorway.

From the hills around the fort, Roman soldiers could see far and wide. They had good views towards places like Blackstone Edge, Standedge, Huddersfield, and the Stainland Valley. This helped them keep an eye on the surrounding area.

Discoveries at the Fort

People have been exploring Slack Roman Fort for a long time.

Early Digs and Finds

In 1865, a group called the Huddersfield Archaeological and Topographical Society dug at the site. They found the remains of a building that was about 18 meters (60 feet) by 21 meters (68 feet) with a courtyard. Near this building, they found a place where people were cremated (their bodies burned).

About 73 meters (80 yards) down the slope from the house, they found parts of a hypocaust. This was a Roman heating system that used hot air to warm floors and rooms, like a sauna. They also found a British stone axe, pieces of pottery, part of a brooch (a decorative pin), and some galena (lead ore).

In another part of the site, they found a cold bath. It was a concrete slab about 4.1 meters (13 feet 6 inches) long and 1.9 meters (6 feet 3 inches) wide. The room with the bath had a red tiled floor. They also uncovered copper or bronze coins from the time of Roman emperors Vespasian and Nerva. An earthenware jar and a tile stamped "COH IIII BRE" were found too.

Later Excavations and Fort Structure

More excavations happened between 1913 and 1915, and again from 1958 to 1963. These digs uncovered the fort's ramparts (the defensive walls) and the foundations of its gates and corner towers.

The ramparts were made of turf placed on a stone base. They surrounded an area that was 108.5 meters (356 feet) square. A ditch, and in some places a double ditch, surrounded the ramparts when the fort was built around AD 79.

Inside the fort, archaeologists found the outlines of several wooden buildings. These included the military headquarters and barracks where soldiers lived. About 20 years later, two granaries were added. Granaries were buildings used to store grain. Their roofs had tiles stamped "COHIIIIBRE". This mark showed they were made by the 4th cohort of Breuci soldiers, who had a tile-making workshop nearby.

Around the early AD 120s, some parts of the fort started to be built with stone. However, by this time, the number of soldiers stationed there had been reduced. The fort was used until about AD 140.

Outside the fort, to the east, was the bath-house. To the north, there was a small civilian settlement. This village might have continued to exist until around AD 200.

Artefacts on Display

The Tolson Museum in Huddersfield has a collection of items found at Slack Roman Fort. This includes the reconstructed remains of the hypocaust heating system. These parts, including the stone columns and tiled floor, were moved from the fort to Ravensknowle Park, where the museum is located.