ARCHAEOLOGISTS have launched a fundraising appeal following the discovery of a Roman fort at Calstock. Money is needed to fund the identification of artefacts and preserved plant remains which were found during the surprise discovery at the end of January. The 'rare and significant' find next to St Andrew's Church is only the third Roman fort to be found in Cornwall and dates back to the first century AD. Exeter University's fundraising foundation has launched the appeal to raise in the region of £3,000 and it is hoped local donations will be forthcoming. Calstock Parish Council agreed last week to contribute but has not yet decided on a figure. Calstock councillor Dorothy Kirk said: 'This is one of the biggest things to have happened in this area — Roman Cornwall starts in Calstock. It is high prestige and we cannot afford for this to go unnoticed.' Chairman of the council Jerome Irons agreed: 'This may have been the original mining heritage in some way and I think we should support it.' A team of archaeologists had been conducting geophysical surveys near the church two months ago looking for medieval settlements when they found the outline of a fort. 'It was a complete surprise, that is why archaeology is so exciting,' said team member Dr Stephen Rippon. 'Just very occasionally you find something fantastic like this. It is the most exciting discovery I have been involved with since I started in archaeology 20 odd years ago.' Pottery was also found at the site, believed to be from the first century AD, and remains of furnaces, possibly related to silver working as the area was known to have been involved in silver mining in medieval times. Radiocarbon dating techniques will be used to establish the age of these finds. If they are Roman, this will show for the first time the Romans' interest in exploiting Cornish minerals. Very little is known about the Roman occupation in Cornwall, so this discovery could mark an important step in piecing together this period of history. Dr Rippon said: 'We know a lot of pottery was made in modern France — pottery styles changed a lot and if we send it to an expert they will be able to tell us when it was manufactured and that will give us a time of when the fort was used. 'There are also deposits of cereal grains — if we can identify them we will be able to say what crops were grown locally and what the soldiers were eating.' Although the fort is on private land and has been covered over, there will be details of it at Cotehele Quay and it will be published in Cornish and national archaeology journals. 'This is a rare and very important discovery,' added Dr Rippon. 'Very occasionally new Roman forts turn up, particularly in the north of England where we know of large Roman garrisons, but why were the Romans in Calstock? 'Were they there very briefly keeping up with natives following the Roman conquest or were they there longer because of the rich mineral resources in Cornwall? 'What we discover may shed light on some very big questions as to why the Romans invaded Britain — was it to exploit the mineral rights of Devon and Cornwall?' Anyone who wishes to make a donation to the appeal can contact Dr Stephen Rippon on 01392 264353. l Members of the public will be able to hear more details of the fascinating discovery at Calstock when archaeologist Chris Smart and historian Peter Claughton give a talk to the annual parish meeting in Calstock on April 8. The meeting is being held at Albaston Cemetery Chapel and begins at 7pm. It is open to all members of the parish who will also be able to raise any issues of local concern.
