Filey Roman Signal Station

In recent years erosion has become a major problem on the east coast of Yorkshire and has affected a number of historic sites. They include the Roman signal station at Filey which lies on the Carr Naze, a high headland on the north side of Filey Bay. Filey is one of five signal stations (the others are at Scarborough, Ravenscar, Goldsborough, and Huntcliffe) which were constructed late in the fourth century AD as part of a system of coastal defence. The Filey site was first discovered in 1857 after a cliff fall, and small-scale archaeological excavations took place in 1923. As a result of the increasing threat of erosion, two seasons of work to investigate what still survived were carried out in 1993-94 by York Archaeological Trust assisted by the Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society, funded by English Heritage and supported by Scarborough Borough Council.

Although about two-thirds of the site has disappeared over the cliffs, it is clear that the plan of the Filey signal station is very similar to that of the others in the group. It measured about 50m across and at the centre stood a tower 14m square of which the substantial clay and stone foundations have been found. In 1857 five large stone blocks were recovered which may have supported the first floor of the tower. The tower was surrounded by a small walled courtyard which was entered through a gate on the west side. Beyond the gate there was a defensive ditch which presumably ran across the headland, but did not enclose the whole site. Since the Roman structures have been totally demolished, probably in medieval times, it is difficult to know what they originally looked like, but it is possible that the tower rose to a height of as much as 30m.

The signal station garrison probably consisted of a small band of local militia whose duties were to warn local people and the Roman army inland of the approach of sea-borne raiders. Excavation of the courtyard around the tower revealed a thick layer of refuse left by the garrison which included broken pottery, animal bones, and other food debris. Research on the bones and shells by the Environmental Archaeology Unit at York University has shown that, in addition to beef, mutton, and chicken, locally available sea-food, primarily limpets and mussels, were eaten, supplemented on occasions by sea-birds such a guillemot and razor bill.

It has not been possible to date the construction of the Filey signal station with any accuracy within the late Roman period, but coins from the courtyard suggest that refuse tipping began after c AD 385. Occupation is unlikely to have continued much beyond the early fifth century. The abandonment of the site by the Romans was not the end of its use for defensive purposes, as at some subsequent date, probably in the sixth - eighth century AD, a massive rampart composed of clay and turf was built on the east side of the signal station. This earthwork, which was about 30m wide, still stands about 1.8m high. It can be clearly seen today and accounts for a rise and fall in the path along the top of Carr Naze. The exact purpose of the rampart is unknown, but it clearly formed a defensive barrier across the headland.