Mention Cockermouth, and most people will think of the November 2009 floods which caused so much devastation, or perhaps more recently, the resulting £276 million repair bill that the county has undertaken during the past year. The floods had a positive element, however: in a field just outside the town, beneath the Roman fort of Papcastle and stretching across the floodplain, there appeared an enigmatic series of finds, including walls to the base of a possible altar.
The town of Cockermouth is a thriving commercial centre at the confluence of the rivers Cocker and Derwent, and has a well recorded history stretching to the Middle Ages. The origins of Papcastle, close to Cockermouth but elevated above the floodplain, go even further back to Roman times, and perhaps earlier. Much is known about the Roman fort (Derventio), which was originally a crossing point of the River Derwent, although little remains of the final 3rd-century structure. The majority of the fort’s stone was removed to build Cockermouth castle, and what remains is buried beneath modern housing. Occasional glimpses appear in gardens and during construction work. The surrounding vicus was discovered, and publicised, by the visit in 1998 of Channel 4’s Time Team, who made the significant find of a bronze mirror. The surrounding floodplain, however, was thought to be devoid of major archaeology.
The archaeological clues revealed by the floods of November 2009 raised sufficient interest for a local project, Unlocking Hidden Heritage (run by Grampus Heritage and Training Ltd), to begin an investigation. A geophysical survey of the fields surrounding the newly uncovered remains was carried out and extended to areas around the Roman fort, which had never before been surveyed. The survey was carried out by a profusion of local volunteers, who had already done similar surveys in the Bassenthwaite catchment, and a geophysical survey in the vicinity of Castlerigg Stone Circle, which had uncovered a Roman marching camp.
V. G. Childe’s archaeological theory