as "The Tofts" south of the church. Excavations in 1951 by Mortimer Wheeler and during the 1980s by Haselgrove, revealed traces of round houses both within the Tofts and outside the larger enclosed area. This suggests that from about 200 BC agrarian settlers began to establish what became the largest oppidum in the north of England. Traces of Samian ware and other rich goods in one of the round-house remains suggest that Cartimandua, Queen of the Brigantes, may have made it her residence, possibly only temporarily. According to Tacitus she made a pact with the rapidly advancing Romans under Petillius Cerealis. Rigodonum, a Brigantian fort of unknown location mentioned by Tacitus, was proposed by Wheeler as a likely candidate to have occupied the location now known as Stanwick. There are no signs in the archaeological record of battle having occurred here. The Romans established stations at Catterick to the south and at Piercebridge on the river crossing to the north but at about the same time (circa 70 AD) building activity seems to have stopped at Stanwick. Another contemporary walled ditch called "Scots Dyke" running from Stanwick southward to the River Swale at Richmond (and possibly also northward over the River Tees at Gainford, County Durham) may have formed part of a general defensive mechanism for the hill peoples in the area. A section of the defences was recreated by Wheeler (now an English Heritage visitor site near the village of Forcett) which shows how the ditch was at this point actually cut down into the sandstone to form a wall on the inner side. However, the long perimeter of the site (more than ) suggests that defence against a strong attack would hardly have been an option. Finds from the "Stanwick Hoard" discovered in 1854 are displayed in the British Museum in London. Post-Roman While Stanwick was never an important settlement after the Romans built and marched up what is now called Dere Street, from Catterick fort towards their river crossing at Piercebridge, it seems that the centre of the area below the Tofts, with its watermeadows, stream and pasture, which became built up into the circular, sacred island-like site visible today, provided a place for Christian worship and a burial ground as early as 500 AD. Traces of a small Iron Age village have been identified a little to the north-east of the church, and particularly in wet