| Metchley Fort | |
|---|---|
 The site of thepraetentura, pictured here in 2009 | |
  | |
| Founded during the reign of | Claudius |
| Founded | c. AD 48 |
| Abandoned | c. AD 200 |
| Place in the Roman world | |
| Province | Britannia |
| Directly connected to | Icknield Street |
| Structure | |
| — Second fort structure — | |
| Built during the reign of | Domitian |
| Built | AD 90 |
| — Timber structure — | |
| Built during the reign of | Claudius |
| Built | c. AD 48 |
| Stationed military units | |
| —Legions — | |
| Legio XIV Gemina andLegio XX Valeria Victrix | |
| Events | Boudican revolt (possibly) |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 52°27′01″N1°56′17″W / 52.4504°N 1.938°W /52.4504; -1.938 |
| Place name | Metchley |
| Town | Birmingham |
| County | West Midlands |
| Country | England |
| Reference | |
| UK-OSNG reference | SN643564 |
| Site notes | |
| Discovery year | c. 1781 |
| Condition | Earthworks, crop marks and ditches; buried ruins |
| Controlled by | Scheduled Monument (SAM: CD129) |
| Excavation dates | 1934–present |
| Archaeologists | Mick Aston |
Metchley Fort was aRoman fort in what is nowBirmingham, England.[1] It was built across four phases using a north-to-south plan.[2]
It lies on the course of aRoman road,Icknield Street, which is now the site of the presentQueen Elizabeth Hospital and theUniversity of Birmingham inEdgbaston. The fort was constructed overmarshland[3] and three formerBronze Ageburnt mounds[4] on the orders ofPublius Ostorius Scapula soon after theRoman invasion of Britain, roughly in AD 48.[5] The fort was around 200 square metres (2,153 sq ft) in area and was defended by a turf and earth bank with a timber wall, towers and double ditches.[6] Within the fort were timber buildings including barrack blocks, a granary, a workshop and a store. In AD 60 or 61, Metchley Fort may have been involved in theBoudican Revolt, and in AD 70, the fort was abandoned, only to be reoccupied around AD 90, when another fort, half the size of the original, was built on the same site, before being abandoned again in AD 120. It would have then likely been in sporadic use as a training camp up until its complete abandonment byc. AD 200.
Remains have also been found of a civilian settlement, orvicus alongside the fort. It consisted of timber buildings and yards alongside a road leading from the fort's west gate, and was occupied for just a few years, when the fort was at its largest.[6]
The fort was extended on three sides by the addition of defended annexes, which were used for tethering horses, storage and small-scale industrial activity such as ironworking. Later, the fort's buildings were replaced by other structures including compounds which suggest that it was now being used as a stores depot.[6]
Ahunting lodge was present on the site of Metchley Fort as early as the 16th century, likely near theretentura andlatera praetorii. It was eventually demolished around 1781 when the earthworks of the fort were first identified.[7] The fort was also almost lost tocultivation around this time.[3]
The remains were first identified around 1781 byWilliam Hutton (he published his findings on Metchley Fort in hisAn History of Birmingham),[7] although there were conflicting opinions on the origins of the earthworks - the common consensus at the time agreed that the fort wasNorse in origin.[8]
The fort was confirmed to date to the 1st and 2nd century AD in excavations that took place in the 1930s, starting in 1934, when theUniversity of Birmingham Medical School was constructed. Further excavations took place in the 1940s and 1950s.[1] On 28 September 1953 theLord Mayor of Birmingham, G. H. W. Griffith, opened the newly restored north-west corner of the fort. The reconstruction of the corner did not last long, however, as it was later destroyed by vandals before 1956.[9] More extensive excavations took place in the 1960s which uncovered various timber buildings within the fort.Mick Aston, who later became well-known on the TV programmeTime Team, worked on the Metchley excavations in the late 1960s. Discoveries from excavations in the early 2000s included ovens and hearths, timber gateways, roads, the headquarters building, vessels from theSevern Valley and theMalvern Hills, and tableware fromFrance.[1]
Metchley Fort was excavated in 1969,[10] 1987,[4] 1995,[11] and between 1997 and 1998.[2]
The remains of the fort are one of thirteenScheduled monuments in Birmingham.[12]
![View of the site of Metchley Fort from the approximate centre of the fort, pictured in 2019. The position of a Roman street through the fort has been marked by the two lines of yellow bricks in the pavement. This street ran between the north-west gate and the south-east gate.[8]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aMetchley_fort_looking_north_in_2019.jpg)