| Description | An area named 'Camp Field' on the south side of the R.Aire lies on or very close to the projected line of Roman Road 712. By itself, this does not mean very much; the name 'camp' may derive from campus field, and occurs in other riverside/meadowland areas possibly with this meaning (cf. PRN 1405, Camp Field in Otley where, however there is also a find of Roman material). The possibility that this might relate to some earlier site, surviving in earthwork form into the Medieval period cannot be rejected; in particular, the area is defined on its west and south sides by the township boundary between Holbeck and Leeds, which turns a marked right angle and partially delineates an area c. 125 x 80 m. The similarity in form of the area so defined (and of a subsequent housing development) to that of a Roman fort may be totally misleading but cannot be ignored. A Roman military station would be predicted on this road in Leeds and has not yet been found; there is yet no evidence that the former site on Quarry Hill was of this nature (though it could have been). Camp Field was probably still open ground in 1770 (Jefferys map of Leeds) but was partially developed with housing by 1815 (Netlam and Giles map). By 1847 it was fully developed with dense housing which was modified at some date thereafter (see undated plans). At a later date again the housing was replaced by a mill or factory; the site is likely to be redeveloped again in 1990s. Even if there were an archaeological site here, there will have been large scale destruction by the past developments; however, pockets may remain and in particular, the west, south and east boundaries of a putative fort or enclosure could well survive below ground especially if they happened to lie just beyond the limits of the actual housing/factory under the pavements/ roads. Although there is not currently sufficient evidence to warrant large scale investigation here, evaluation ahead of planning decisions should at least explore the possibility of such a site by machine sectioning across the putative boundaries of a Roman fort; a small amount of trial trenching across the site may also be justified (e.g. one machine trench, diagonally, across the whole site). Should it happen that a Roman military site were substantiated by such evaluation, then there may be a requirement for some more detailed work. |