Rigodunum Roman Fort, ancient site in Oldham

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What is recorded here

Castleshaw guarded the exposed Pennine road between Chester and York from about AD 79. A five-hundred-man fort gave way to a smaller fortlet and civilian settlement, while excavation from the eighteenth century onward revealed how Rome adjusted its hold on a difficult mountain pass.

Who made it and when

Roman troops built a turf-and-timber fort around AD 79, probably for an auxiliary cohort of about five hundred. It was abandoned in the 90s; a smaller fortlet followed around AD 105 and remained until the 120s.

How it was made and used

The first fort overlooked the Castleshaw valley and controlled the Standedge crossing on the road between Chester and York. Headquarters, commander's house, granary, stables and six possible workshops or stores organised the garrison and its supplies.

What was found

Antiquaries began examining the earthworks in the eighteenth century, with repeated digs from 1897 onward. Work identified both military phases; investigation during the 1990s finally located the civilian settlement that had grown beside the fortlet.

What remains

Banks and ditches of the fort and inner fortlet survive as protected earthworks, while their timber buildings are known from buried postholes and trenches. The surrounding civilian remains are below ground and vulnerable to erosion and disturbance.

Why it mattered

Castleshaw shows conquest becoming administration: a campaigning fort was replaced by a smaller post serving traffic and local settlement. Its position explains why the Pennine pass mattered to Rome even after the first large garrison left.