Visible remains at Orchard Field, Malton showing the surviving earthworks of the north east corner of the fort
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Map showing the location of Derventio within North Yorkshire.
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Location | Malton, North Yorkshire |
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Region | Yorkshire |
Coordinates | 54°08′10″N 0°47′25″W / 54.136190°N 0.79031020°W |
Type | Roman fort |
History | |
Founded | AD 70 |
Abandoned | 5th Century |
Site notes | |
Archaeologists | Philip Corder, John Kirk, Leslie Peter Wenham |
Public access | Partly in public parkland |
Derventio, sometimes described as Derventio Brigantium (Latin for "Derventio of the Brigantes") in order to distinguish it from other places called Derventio, was a Roman fort and settlement located beneath the modern town of Malton in North Yorkshire, England. The fort is positioned 18 miles north-east of Eboracum on the River Derwent.
The Roman name for the Malton military complex first appears in the Antonine Itinerary of the late-second century. It is also mentioned in the 4th/5th century Notitia Dignitatum as Deruentione - the last auxiliary garrison "at the disposal of the Right Honourable Duke of the Britains".
Initial investigations at the site were undertaken by Philip Corder and John Kirk in the 1930s. The excavated material from this site formed the core collection of the Malton Museum. These excavations took in both the defences and interior buildings of the north-east corner of the fort and trial trenches in the south-west of the fort. A further series of excavations between 1949 and 1952 by the Ministry of Works in the civilian settlement uncovered multiple phases of activity as well as a road, several buildings and a mosaic.
Timber and stone structures were identified during excavations on the fort in 1970 by Leslie Peter Wenham. A complex building sequence was revealed, with major phases occurring during the Trajanic, Severan, Constantian and Theodosian periods. The south and west defences of an early Roman military work were confirmed beneath the vicus buildings, very likely a southern annexe of the known fort. These additional defences comprised pf a turf rampart 16 ft (4.9m) wide, backing a ditch 6 ft (1.8m) wide and 3½ft (1.2m) deep.
The earliest secure construction of a fort at Malton was in the AD 70s under Agricola, contemporary with the nearby fortress at Eboracum. Built on the north side of the River Derwent, this original phase was in timber, with the wall being rebuilt in stone in the early second century. The presence of the Ala shows that for at least part of its history, Derventio was capable of housing a mounted cavalry unit.