More digging at Calstock's Roman Fort

It was January 12 months ago that the discovery of a Roman Fort in our parish came to light and I blogged about it here. With the backing of 'English Heritage' the archaeologists returned last month and the dig is continuing through much of February - I believe the present phase on site is for a period of seven weeks in total. They have been busy in a field adjoining the cemetery and I believe it is the intention to use this land for burials as well. Last Saturday turned out to be a respectably dry day thank goodness because it was advertised as an open day for all and sundry to see what has been going on.

The great find this year - fanfare please - was a Roman Road leading toward the west gate of the encampment. So, we now have evidence of a road leading westward on the ridge, but for how far: that is the question. There are two other Roman forts further west in Cornwall (well two known so far to be more precise) so would 'our' road have connected up with them? A friend yesterday made an interesting observation pointing out that the present motorised road doesn't actually lie on top of its Roman predecessor but there is not much more than a hedge width separating them. This surprised him. The site of the fort encompasses Calstock Parish Church so does that mean the Church was sited on a former Roman place of worship? In Cornwall we have many instances of churches being located some distance from the main body of a village and Calstock is one such. Prior to the finding of the fort my feeling was that the siting of the Church was just another example of the peculiar Cornish practice. Raymond, who had written a very thorough guide to the church, had postulated that the closeness of some wells might have been the reason for the siting and I wouldn't have argued with that. Mentioning the Church reminds me that it was open on Saturday with a small exhibition relating what we know so far regarding this bit of Roman occupation. There was also a hands on display of various 'finds', not from this site but from elsewhere, so that folk could get a sense of what all this archaeological business is about. I'm not sure but I think that it was Exeter Museum who provided these flints and other small artifacts. Two chaps dressed as Roman soldiers and at the Church porch added to the atmosphere. They had set up a 'groma', a Roman surveying instrument about which there are plenty of references on line, one of which can be found here.

All in all very interesting. I've arranged for the experts to give our local history group a talk on the story so far at our April meeting (last Saturday of that month). I'm really looking forward to it.

Railway centenary celebrations coming up

This coming Sunday sees the centenary of the opening of our branch railway. Back in 1908 it ran from Bere Alston to Kelly Bray but, following the Beeching Report, the western section from Gunnislake to Kelly Bray has been closed. Today the line extends on from Bere Alston to Plymouth over what was in its day part of the Plymouth - Exeter route through Tavistock and Okehampton.

So far as our railway history is concerned 1908 on the face of it is a very late date to be opening a new railway line. Well part of it had been in use as far back as 1872 as a link from Kelly Bray to Calstock. As with many other lines hereabouts it was brought into being purely as a way to get freight to and from a convenient waterway, in our case the River Tamar. Reflecting its history in this truncated form it had been known as the East Cornwall Mineral Railway. The track from
the Tavistock direction through Bere Alston to Plymouth was completed in 1890 and it was seen as a sensible move to bridge the gap between the two railways even though this meant incorporating an expensive high level viaduct across the Tamar at Calstock.

Even with delays in the building of the viaduct this structure was completed in August 1907 well ahead of the rest of the line. Locally we celebrated the viaduct construction last summer but it was deemed (correctly in my opinion) that we should have a further series of events now.

This coming Sunday then is the big day with top brass from First Great Western, at least one local MP and various local council dignitaries getting in on the act. There will be a special train and I think three plaques to be unveiled. Over the weekend there will be archive displays, film shows and other jollifications taking place. In fact there is so much on the menu that the organisers sensibly put on two railway walks last weekend. These were led by two respected members of the Calstock Footpath Society - on Saturday David led a walk from Calstock Station and then on the following day Stephen led the walk from the station at Gunnislake. I didn't get to David's walk I'm afraid but did participate in Steve's which looked at the line and all its associated sidings between Gunnislake and Latchley. This was extremely interesting and informative.

Next Monday afternoon there is the opportunity to walk across Calstock viaduct (legally!) but you have to book and it will cost £5. Nice to say you have done it perhaps but the high parapet will preclude decent views. In the train you get a much better outlook - myself I'll stick with the train!

For more on the celebration events you can click here. No doubt I shall have more to record after next Sunday.

Roman fort discovered at Calstock

Last Saturday evening I received word about the amazing discovery of a Roman fort just west of the Tamar at Calstock! Peter Claughton from Exeter University has been researching the story of the lead and silver mining on the Bere Peninsula for some time; he had been aware from the records of some sort of silver smelting operation in the vicinity of Calstock Church just across the Tamar from these particular mining lodes. Geophysical surveying was revealing an interesting anomaly in a field just south of the church and now an archaeological dig is in process. Apart from some evidence of smelting the big prize has been these totally unknown Roman remains.

I was in the area anyway today so made a point of visiting the site and was pleased to receive a "conducted tour". Just in time too as the excavation has to be backfilled by the end of the week.