The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites
Richard Stillwell, William L. MacDonald, Marian Holland McAllister, Stillwell, Richard, MacDonald, William L., McAlister, Marian Holland, Ed.

CAISTOR Lincolnshire, England.

Little is known of the early history of this settlement, which stood on a spur projecting from the N Lincolnshire Wolds. Probably in the 4th c., irregular polygonal defenses were built to enclose the spur (area ca. 3.2 ha). The circuit included a number of external towers, which, as at Horncastle, were built at the same time as the wall. A connection with coastal defense is to be presumed. Occupation continued after the end of the Roman period, as indicated by early Germanic burials at Nettleton and Fonaby.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

C.F.C. Hawkes, “Roman Ancaster, Horncastle and Caistor,” ArchJ 103 (1946) 17ff; P. Rahtz, “Caistor,” AntJ 40 (1960) 175ff.

M. TODD