Possible Roman Camp in Jersey?

[Carus Andiae]

Thanks for your comments. The focus on Caesar is Stevens' doing, and comes largely from an almost certainly erroneous belief that Jersey was called Caesarea (from a misreading of the Antonine Itinerary - as I said, Jersey would have been Andium, and Caesarea the islet group known as Les Minquiers). I would agree that fortification against sea borne raiders in the Late Empire (comparable to the German fortification of the Channel Islands in WWII) would be equally if not more likely, although this site is too far inland - I would have said - to prove especially effective in that regard. In that case, Caesar's Fort, flanked by two bays - both of which have been used as harbours, one still is - would be more likely. Sadly, there is no Roman material at that site to back up the theory. A small fort and signal station was built in the Late Roman era in Alderney. You'd be hard pressed to signal to France from Alderney, so I suspect there may have been a signal station (or two) somewhere in Jersey.

Finds at Les Catieaux have been sparse, but have included some Roman material (of what date I don't know - easily obtained information seems to be sparse) and inluded a small quantity of pottery and some coins. In fact, evidence of the Romans being in Jersey is very hard to come by - apart from similar finds to those at Les Catieaux, we have the base of pillar, found in the crypt of St Lawrence Church, and the foundations of a small Gallo-Roman shrine on the clifftop at Le Pinacle in the west of the Island:



I suppose one could argue that in the middle ages the remains of a Roman site were repaired - it has been proposed as the site of a refuge mentioned as existing the 13th century. Oh well - wishful thinking I suppose. Perhaps one day someone will miraculously discover a papyrus listing the garrison and defences of Jersey under such and such an Emperor.