DERVENTIO
(Malton) Yorkshire, England.
Agricolan fort on the site of an earlier legionary fortress,
partly covered by a Roman town and a mediaeval castle
and mansion, and just W of old Malton Priory Church.
Mentioned twice as Derventione on Iter I (
Ant. It. and
Not. dig). The site covered a crossing of the river Derwent. The fort wall was laid on a foundation of clay
and stone, and well-preserved gates with guardrooms
still stood at the time of excavation. The pits of the
earlier fortress lay outside the fort, and yielded an abundance of mid 1st c. pottery and tiles. This fortress may
have been built by Petcilius Cericles on his advance
from Lincoln to York.
The fortress was destroyed and corn from the granaries
laid along the ramparts and systematically burned. This
carbonized layer divides the earlier and later periods of
the fort's history. Later the fortress showed signs of decay: burials were common even in the guardrooms. The
later town was built along the road to the ford and on
the other bank through Norton. Workshops and stores
were common, and there were potters' kilns in Norton.
The earliest buildings were of wood, but some of the
later buildings were of stone and had mosaic floors.
G. F. WILMOT
