Margidunum
MARGIDUNUM in Britain (Itin. Anton. pp. 477, 479). It is supposed by Camden, Stukeley, Horseley, and others, to have been situated at or near East Bridgeford, about eight miles from Willoughby.
[C.R.S]The Antonine Itinerary (Iter VI and Iter VIII) locates Margidunum midway between Ratae (Leicester) and Lindum (Lincoln) on the Fosse Way. The earliest occupation of the site was a military post, established ca. A.D. 55-60. No structural evidence for a fort has been recovered, but finds of military equipment indicate the presence of an army unit. After the abandonment of the site by the army, A.D. 70-80, a civilian settlement grew up along the Fosse Way, a number of simple rectangular buildings straggling along the road for ca. 1 km. There were two villas within 3 km of the settlement and other humbler farms in the surrounding area.
In the late 2d c. an earthwork defense, an irregular polygonal circuit, was provided for the central part of Margidunum (area 2.2 ha). Later, perhaps in the 3d c., a stone wall 2.7 m wide was added to the front of the earth rampart and two broad ditches were dug outside it. Within this small defended area relatively few buildings were erected. The most elaborate was a corridor house resembling a small villa. Occupation continued until ca. A.D. 500.
BIBLIOGRAPHYF. Oswald, “Margidunum,” JRS 31 (1941) 32ff; id., The Commandant's House at Margidunum (1948); id., Excavation of a Traverse of Margidunum (1952); M. Todd, “The Roman Settlement at Margidunum,” Trans. Thoroton Soc. 73 (1969).
M. TODD