Rossington Parish Council

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Rossington Bridge, South Yorkshire infomation taken from Roman Britain

NGRef: SK6399
OSMap: LR111
Type: Vexillation Fortress, Potteries.

Roads

Itinera V/VIII: NW (4) to DANVM (Doncaster, South Yorkshire)
Itinera V/VIII: SE (17) to SEGELOCVM (Littleborough, Nottinghamshire)

"Rossington S. Yorks. Rosington c.1190. Probably 'farmstead at the Moor'. Celtic *ros + OE -ing- + tun." (Mills)

The 'Vexillation' Fortress

This large fort of 23 acres (9.3ha) lies about 4½ miles (7km) south-west of Doncaster. A fort of this size must have housed a force of some considerable strength, indeed, the area is sufficient to accommodate half a legion at a pinch, around two and a half thousand men. It is more likely, however, that the fort was occupied by a mixed force of legionary and auxiliary cohorts, formed into a task force united under the flag of a single senior commander. A unit of this nature was termed a vexillatio, named after the commanding officer's pennant or vexillium, and the large defensive enclosures needed to house these formations are nowadays known as 'Vexillation Fortresses'.

The fortress may have been built in the late A.D. 40's marking an early thrust toward the north-western border of the Coritani, perhaps conducted by forces under the command of Ostorius Scapula, the second propraetorian governor of Britain. Another scenario involves a campaign orchestrated by governor Vettius Bolanus. In dating this fortress it should be borne in mind that the auxiliary fort at Chesterfield was founded c.AD55 and another at Templeborough is thought to be contemporary with it, both forts lying on the line of Ryknild Street to the south west. It is possible that the auxiliary fort guarding the crossing of the River Don at Doncaster may be associated with the same campaign in which these forts were established, so too the vexillation fortress at Rossington Bridge.

Taking these facts into consideration, Sheppard Frere concluded that this site is very likely linked with the problems of governor Didius Gallus in dealing with queen Cartimandua of the Brigantes. In his scenario a carefully selected striking force were housed during the early stages of the operation in the vexillation fortress at Newton on Trent on the old Plautian frontier, which is of a similar size. Once Gallus had advanced his front line, this same task force would have occupied a more forward position and this may well account for the large site here at Rossington.

The Roman Potteries

Aside from the large potteries in Rossington (SK6399) there is another smaller group of pottery kilns nearby at Blaxton (SE6500), but the the largest and most important potteries in this area were those at Cantley (SE6102) near Doncaster. The main product of these second century industries was kitchenware, mortaria in particular. A mortarium is a wide, shallow mixing bowl, often studded on the inner surface with hard ceramic nodules designed to help break up foodstuffs. Several mortaria have been unearthed from the ruins of these potteries, variously stamped, including those of potters SARRIVS and SETIBOGIVS. Sarrius was producing pottery here c.AD160-85, and also had potteries at Hartshill near Manduessedum (Mancetter, Warwickshire) on the Watling Street. It would appear that the potteries here derived at least some of their income by exporting wares outside the area, as mortaria produced here have turned up at several sites in the north of Britain.

Other Nearby Roman Sites

There is a villa two miles to the south-west at Stancil (SO6096), and another at Oldcotes (SK5988) eight miles south. There is also a fortlet at Bawtrey (SK6592) five miles to the south-east, along the road to Littleborough.

See: Historical Map and Guide - Roman Britain by the Ordnance Survey (3rd, 4th & 5th eds., 1956, 1994 & 2001);
Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names by A.D. Mills (Oxford 1998);
Rome Against Caratacus by Graham Webster (Batsford, London, 1993).

ROSSINGTON POTTERY MANUFACTURED 135AD to 190AD

Rossington Bridge Mortaria

Class : Mortaria :
Source : Britain :
Distribution in Britain

Click on the image (or here) for larger map. This is a hectad map. More details of the data and mapping are available here. Compare the distribution of this ware with others
Distribution summary
13 hectads (10x10km squares) which is 1.5% of the 850 hectads with Roman pottery in the database or 0.5% of the 2823 hectads in Britain
Illustration

Roman Pottery in Britain (Tyers 1996)
This ware is discussed on p.129-130 of Roman Pottery in Britain (1996). Fabric code : RBMO
The Pottery kilns of Roman Britain (Swan 1984)
This fabric was produced at kiln sites at these locations: Cantley / Yorks-Wriding Data summarized from V. G. Swan The pottery kilns of Roman Britain (HMSO, London, 1984, Royal Commission on Historical Monuments: Supplementary Series 5).

Summary

Mortaria manufactured at Rossington Bridge (nr Doncaster, Yorks/GB) during 2nd centuries AD; distributed in northern England and southern Scotland;

Fabric and technology

Hard, sandy fabric, usually orange-brown with grey core; abundant quartz sand tempering, with occasional red-brown and grey particles; mixed trituration grit, including haematite, quartz, and some flint and brown sandstone.

Forms

Mortaria with bead and rolled flange.

Stamps

The principal potter Rossington Bridge potter is Sarrius, who had earlier worked at Mancetter-Hartshill. Some Rossington Bridge mortaria are stamped jointly by Sarrius and either Setibogius or Secundua. The latest work of Sarrius seems to be at Mancetter-Hartshill, so the Rossington Bridge production may have closed down during his lifetime. The potter Baro may be related to the Baro of the Colchester workshops.

Potter	Date
BARO	140-190	<- COMO ?
SARRIUS	135-170	<- MHMO
SECUNDUA	140-170
SETIBOGIUS	140-170

Table 1. Principal Rossington Bridge mortarium potters

Chronology

Antonine.

Source

Rossington Bridge, near Doncaster.

Distribution

Northern Britain, including the Antonine Wall.

Aliases

Doncaster mortarium fabric 1. JRPS bibliography fabric rsm.

Bibliography

For the kilns see Swan 1984; discussions of Sarrius in MacIvor et al. 1981, 260; Buckland and Magilton 1986, 148.

References

Buckland and Magilton 1986.
Buckland, P. C. and Magilton, J. R., The archaeology of Doncaster, 1. The Roman civil settlement, British archaeological reports. British series, 148, Oxford, (1986).
MacIvor et al. 1981.
MacIvor, I., Thomas, M. C. and Breeze, D. J., 'Excavations on the Antonine Wall fort of Rough Castle, Stirlingshire, 1957-61', PSAS, 110, (1981), pp. 230-85.
Swan 1984.
Swan, V. G. in The pottery kilns of Roman Britain, RCHM Supplementary Series, 5, RCHM, (1984).

Rossington Bridge Black-burnished ware

Class : Coarse wares :

Source : Britain :

Distribution in Britain

Map

Click on the image (or here) for larger map.
This is a hectad map. More details of the data and mapping are available here.
Compare the distribution of this ware with others

Distribution summary

6 hectads (10x10km squares)
which is 0.7% of the 850 hectads with Roman pottery in the database
or 0.2% of the 2823 hectads in Britain

Illustration

Roman Pottery in Britain
(Tyers 1996)

This ware is discussed on p.186 of Roman Pottery in Britain (1996).
Fabric code : RBBB1

National Roman Fabric Reference Collection

(Tomber & Dore 1998)

Cross-reference from this group to fabric descriptions published in The National Roman Fabric Reference Collection (1998):

ROS BB 1

Rossington Bridge Black-burnished ware 1 p.202

Illustrations of these fabrics are available only in the printed catalogue: R. Tomber & J. Dore, The national Roman fabric reference collection. A handbook Museum of London Archaeology Service, London. MOLAS monograph 2. (1998).

The Pottery kilns of Roman Britain
(Swan 1984)

This fabric was produced at kiln sites at these locations:

Cantley / Yorks-Wriding

Data summarized from V. G. Swan The pottery kilns of Roman Britain (HMSO, London, 1984, Royal Commission on Historical Monuments: Supplementary Series 5).