Excavation of the legionary defences at Rack Street

The view was taken from a scaffolding tower standing on top of the front of the rampart at Rack Street in 1977. It looks down into the bottom of the defensive ditch which surrounded the fortress; only a section of the ditch fills has been emptied, and these can be seen in the sides of the trench.

The archaeologist Dr John Salvatore stands at the bottom of the trench. Above him rises its near-vertical outer face. Anyone attacking the legionary defences would have to jump down into the bottom of the trench; they would then be unable to return. The defenders would then be able to pick them off from the rampart above.

Acknowledgments: Exeter Archaeology