Thornham Signal Roman Station

Signal Station

First seen on photographs taken by the Royal Air Force in the late-1940’s, this site is located below the summit of Beacon Hill just south of Thornham on the northern slopes of a low ridge overlooking Brancaster Bay and the eastern approaches to the Wash, known in Roman times as the Metaris Aestuarium; the site lies at a height of about 150 feet (c.46 m), and currently lies about 1½ miles (c.2.4 km) from the coast. The station measures about 200 feet (c.61 m) square within its chalk rampart and single ditch defensive system, and encloses an area of just under 1 acre (c.0.37 ha). The similar camp at Hadleigh on the south Essex coast is thought to be contemporary, the two stations forming part of the same 3rd-century coastal defense system. (JRS 1953 p.97.)

References for Thornham

  • Air Reconnaissance of Southern Britain by J.K. St. Joseph in J.R.S. XLIII (1953) pp.81-97; 

Map References for Thornham

NGRef: TF7242 OSMap: LR132

Roman Roads near Thornham

None identified

Sites near Thornham Signal Roman Station