ROMAN MALTON AND DISTRICT 57 



with roads and wooden buildings. An early ditch, part of the northern 

 defences of this camp, was traced in the autumn of 193 1, and is remarkable 

 in turning twice through an obtuse angle in a length of 350 ft. Not long 

 after this, perhaps under Agricola, a permanent fort of 8| acres was 

 established on the site, with a rampart of sandy clay river silt, 30 ft. wide, 

 and internal buildings of wood. Early in the second century the rampart 

 was raised and widened and a massive revetment of stone, 10 ft. wide at 

 its base, added to it. The headquarters building, of which only slight 

 traces remain, was similar in construction to this wall, and was probably 

 contemporary. 



The north-east gate of this period was a single gate flanked by unusually 

 massive towers, and here was found evidence to suggest that a partial 

 rebuilding of the defences in stone had been begun at an earlier period. 

 To provide a stable foundation for the stone wall, the innermost early 

 ditch had been filled up and, on at least two sides of the fort, two great 

 ditches about 23 and 35 ft. wide were dug. On the south-east side, 

 facing the river, however, there was only one ditch. 



The consolidation of the northern frontier in the reign of Hadrian led 

 to the withdrawal of the garrison from Malton, and although there is 

 evidence of continued occupation of the civil settlement south of the 

 river at Norton during the second century, the fort seems to have lain 

 empty until it was reconditioned, probably under Severus, early in the 

 third century. The internal buildings may have served as a quarry for 

 the inhabitants of Norton, for at first the new buildings were again of 

 wood. The rebuilding of the north-east gate, and perhaps of the fort wall, 

 testifies to the reoccupation of the fort, and the abundance of coins and 

 pottery suggests a peaceful occupation lasting until late in the century. 

 The fort was then abandoned, for, spread along the back of the north-east 

 rampart and underlying later roads and buildings, was found a thick 

 deposit of charred wheat, in some places more than a foot thick. This 

 can only be explained as a deliberate destruction of the contents of the 

 granaries, undertaken before a withdrawal. It cannot be precisely dated. 

 Probably early in the fourth century it was followed by a complete 

 rebuilding of the north-east gate, a single arch 11 ft. in span being flanked 

 by guard-rooms 6 ft. wide. Coins of Carausius, however, are relatively 

 plentiful, and it is at least possible that the rebuilding of the fort may 

 belong to a rather earlier period. 



Throughout the whole of the fourth century Malton was in full occu- 

 pation. The internal buildings were of stone : in the north corner — the 

 only internal area excavated — these were rectangular hutments with 

 narrow spaces between. In the floors of these houses, and even in one 

 of the guard-rooms of the contemporary north-east gate, were found 

 as many as thirty-one skeletons of newly-born infants, sometimes buried 

 in lime, but more often merely laid in the floor. This suggests a much 

 laxer discipline than in the earlier Empire. 



That the fort was destroyed in the disturbances of a.d. 369 seems 

 probable. Its reconstruction by Theodosius provided one very interesting 

 feature. On the north-east side the fort wall must have been so ruined that 

 no attempt was made to reconstruct it. Instead, a new ditch was dug, 



