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The Roman Fort at Slack

The Roman Kiln at Grimescar Woods

Grimescar Woods, located in Fixby, Huddersfield, is home to the remains of a Roman tilery, a site where the Romans produced tiles and pottery nearly 2,000 years ago. This industrial site played a significant role in supporting nearby Roman structures, such as the fort at Slack. 

In the 1950s and 1960s, archaeologists uncovered evidence of this tilery within Grimescar Woods. They found a rectangular kiln, measuring approximately 3 by 4 metres, dug into the bedrock to a depth of about 1.25 metres. The kiln featured a combustion chamber with a vaulted ceiling made of sandstone, and above it was the firing chamber where tiles and pottery were baked. The stoke pit, used for feeding fuel into the kiln, was lined with sandstone blocks and tiles. 

Three people stand at a stone archaeological site in a wooded area. The people are looking into the site, examining it, and one is holding the collar of a large black dog.
Grimescar Woods Excavation

The tilery produced various items, including roof tiles (tegulae), flue tiles, floor tiles, and voussoir tiles used in arches. Some of these tiles were stamped with "COH IIII BRE," indicating they were made by the Fourth Cohort of the Breuci, a Roman military unit stationed at Slack fort. 

Inscriptions are some of the main types of written evidence we have from the Roman period. They are usually written in capital letters. The Romans used abbreviations – shortened forms of words that people would recognise – to save money and time.  

A colour photograph of a broken Roman tile fragment made of reddish-brown terracotta. The surface features a rectangular stamped inscription in capital letters within a bordered frame. The tile is worn and irregularly shaped, with visible chips and cracks. An animal paw print is impressed below the inscription, likely made while the clay was still wet. A small circular museum label marked "07" is visible near the bottom left corner. A ruler along the bottom edge of the image provides scale in inches and centimetres.
Stamped Tile

The evidence at Grimescar shows us how the Romans influenced the local landscape and used technology which had a lasting impact on regions in the area.