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GREENSFORGE Staffordshire, England.

A site on the Smestow brook, 8 km SW of Wolverhampton, with a sequence of military establishments. There are two permanent forts on adjacent sites, and indications of marching camps and other works. Excavations have produced coins and pottery of Claudio-Flavian date, but little is known as yet about the two forts. The fact that there are two sites may indicate a break in occupation, or a change of unit during the advance towards Wales and the subsequent withdrawal during the revolt of A.D. 60. Fort A, farther N, is the larger (1.7 ha), and has a turf-fronted rampart. Fort B is ca. 1.2 ha and occupies a somewhat stronger position overlooking the brook. The size suggests an infantry cohort, but excavations have produced items of cavalry equipment. It is not known which fort was the earlier.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

William Salt Arch. Soc. (1927) 185; JRS 48 (1958) 95; 53 (1963)I; 63 (1973) 233; Trans. Birmingham Arch. Soc. 80 (1965) 82-83; Antiquity 40 (1966) 300-4.

G. WEBSTER

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