{{Short description|Roman Fort in West Yorkshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}} {{Use British English|date=January 2018}} {{Infobox castrum |image = The Roman Fort of Olicana - geograph.org.uk - 425458.jpg |caption = Remains of the outer walls at the Roman Fort, looking towards Ilkley Manor House |name = Ilkley Roman Fort |known_as = Olicana |built_during_reign_of =Titus |founded = c. 80 AD |abandoned = 4th - 5th century AD |attested_by = |previous_fortification =

|type =

|robust_struct_material = Stone |robust_struct_built_during_reign_of = |robust_struct_built = |robust_struct_dim1 = |robust_struct_dim2 = |robust_struct_area = |robust_struct_shape = |robust_struct_thickness= |robust_struct_technique= |robust_struct_towers =

|weak_struct_material = Wood and earth |weak_struct_built_during_reign_of = |weak_struct_built = |weak_struct_dim1 = |weak_struct_dim2 = |weak_struct_area = |weak_struct_shape = |weak_struct_thickness = |weak_struct_technique = |weak_struct_towers =

|commanders = |legions = |cohorts =First cohort of the Lingones tribe |alae = |classis = |numberi =

|events =

|province = Britannia |capital_of = |admin_unit_1 = |admin_unit_2 = |limes = |nearby_water =River Wharfe |links =

|coordinates = {{coord|53.927|-1.825|display=inline}} |altitude_m = |altitude_ref = |map = United Kingdom West Yorkshire |map_alt = <!-- Alternative text for map, see WP:ALT for details --> |map_caption = <small>8px&nbsp;Ilkley Roman Fort shown within West Yorkshire </small> |map_size = <!-- Width of map image, overrides default of 250 --> |map_relief = <!-- Any non-blank value to display relief map, if available -->

|place_name = |location_town = Ilkley |location_county = West Yorkshire |location_state = |location_country = England |ref:UK:OSNG = SE115478 |ref:RO:LMI = |ref:RO:RAN = |ref:UNESCO =

|coins_found = |discovery_year = |condition = |controlled_by = |excavations =1919-21 |archaeologists = |exhibitions = |website = |notes = }} '''Ilkley Roman Fort''' is a Roman fort on the south bank of the River Wharfe, at the centre of the modern town of Ilkley, a Victorian spa town in West Yorkshire, England.

==Identification== The traditional view is that ''Olicana'' is the fort at Ilkley, but the identification is not settled.<ref name="wyaas">[http://www.archaeology.wyjs.org.uk/RomanWeb/Ilkley.htm ILKLEY] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417031804/http://www.archaeology.wyjs.org.uk/RomanWeb/Ilkley.htm |date=17 April 2016 }} - ''The Romans in West Yorkshire'' - West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service</ref> Ptolemy mentions ''Olikana'' in his ''Geographia'' (c. 150), although Rivet and Smith give ''Olenacum'' as the proper form of the name, rejecting Ptolemy's ''Olikana'' as corrupt.<ref name="rivet">{{cite book |last1=Rivet |first1=A. L. F. |last2=Smith |first2=C. |date=1962 |title=The place names of Roman Britain |publisher=Batsford}}</ref> The 1086 Domesday Book gives ''Ilecliue'' also variants ''Illecliue'', ''Illiclei'' and ''Illicleia'' for Ilkley. Modern scholarship has, however, suggested that the Roman name would be better applied to the fort at Elslack (''Eleslac'' in Domesday Book) near Skipton.<ref name="wyaas"/>

Rivet and Smith suggest the name ''Verbeia'' instead, this being the Roman name for the River Wharfe.<ref name="rivet" />{{rp|43}} An altar-stone dedicated to the goddess Verbeia is thought to originate from the site.

==History== left|thumbnail|Roman gravestone found in Ilkley thumb|The Roman Turf & Timber Fort of Olicana - Ilkley - Yorkshire. The first fort at Ilkley was founded by Agricola around 80&nbsp;AD and was largely constructed of wood,<ref name="ilkley1">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ilkley.org/for-visitors-2/19-about-ilkley/124-ilkley-history-before-the-victorians.html |title=Ilkley history before the Victorians |access-date=16 April 2011 |archive-date=23 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423020853/http://ilkley.org/for-visitors-2/19-about-ilkley/124-ilkley-history-before-the-victorians.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> but this was later abandoned in the 120s.<ref name="wyaas"/> A second fort was erected around 161&nbsp;AD which survived for 30 years, before being burnt down,<ref name="ilkley1"/> perhaps during a documented rebellion by the inhabitants of northern Britain.<ref name="wyaas"/> It was immediately replaced by a stone fort which survived until the end of the Roman period.<ref name="ilkley1"/> The fort was abandoned in the late 4th or early 5th century.<ref name="ilkley1"/>

A substantial civil settlement, the ''vicus'', formed the nucleus of the village that followed.<ref name="ilkley1"/> Excavations have yet to reveal continuous habitation from Roman times, but it is quite likely that a village established itself within the ramparts of the fort following the Roman departure.<ref name="church1">[http://www.ilkleypc.co.uk/History2/history-of-the-church History of the Church] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110402072602/http://www.ilkleypc.co.uk/History2/history-of-the-church |date=2 April 2011 }} - All Saints Parish Church</ref> Anglo-Saxon settlement probably did not take place until well into the seventh century, and the sculptured crosses are evidence of a church here in the eighth and ninth centuries.<ref name="church1"/>

==The site today== A wall, once part of the fort, can still be seen from the back of Ilkley Manor House, which stands on the site.<ref name="IMH">[https://www.ilkleymanorhouse.org/ Ilkley Manor House website]</ref> Around the area are four signs showing the edges of the walls of the fort.<ref name="ilkley2">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ilkley.org/clubs-and-orgs/112-manor-house-art-gallery-a-museum.html |title=ILKLEY MANOR HOUSE - Art Gallery & Museum |access-date=16 April 2011 |archive-date=3 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503204549/http://www.ilkley.org/clubs-and-orgs/112-manor-house-art-gallery-a-museum.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The area of the fort extends underneath the Manor House and nearby All Saints Parish Church whilst the vicus probably existed from the car park in the centre of Ilkley to Christchurch on The Grove. The church and Manor House both have a collection of Roman altars and tombstones, Anglo-Saxon crosses, and Medieval tombstones.<ref name="church2">[http://www.ilkleypc.co.uk/History2/history-of-the-building History of the Building] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322193624/http://ilkleypc.co.uk/History2/history-of-the-building/ |date=22 March 2012 }} - All Saints Parish Church</ref> The Roman altars date to the reigns of Antoninus Pius (138 to 161), and Septimius Severus and his son Caracalla (211 to 217).<ref>Shaw, Thomas (1830). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=OskuAAAAMAAJ& The History of Wharfedale]'', Otley: William Walker, pp.72–5</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{commons category-inline|Olicana}} *{{NHLE|num=1013674 |desc=Site of Roman Fort, Ilkley}} *{{PastScape|mnumber=49938 |mname=VERBEIA ROMAN FORT}} *[http://www.ilkley.org/clubs-and-orgs/112-manor-house-art-gallery-a-museum.html Ilkley Manor House - Art Gallery and Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503204549/http://www.ilkley.org/clubs-and-orgs/112-manor-house-art-gallery-a-museum.html |date=3 May 2011 }} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20160417031804/http://www.archaeology.wyjs.org.uk/RomanWeb/Ilkley.htm ILKLEY] - ''The Romans in West Yorkshire'' - West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service

Category:Roman fortifications in England Category:Military history of Yorkshire Roman fort Category:Scheduled monuments in West Yorkshire