The first known Roman activity was the building of a timber fort, believed to have been constructed during the campaigns of Petillius Cerialis around AD 72/3.

The work was carried out by Prof. W. B. Anderson, of Manchester University, and Mr. D. Atkinson, Research Fellow of Reading College, and, though limited in extent, was very successful.

The work done last spring (1913) makes it plain (see illustration) that the Principia fronted — in normal fashion — the main street of the fort (gravel laid on cobbles) running from the north to the south gate.

The boy found the items buried in a hollow, about 10 feet below the surface, on some waste land by the side of a road leading to Ribchester Church, and near a river bed.

[6] In addition to the helmet, the hoard included a number of patera, pieces of a vase, a bust of Minerva, fragments of two basins, several plates and some other items that Townley thought had religious uses.

[11] Excavations began in the nineteenth century, with those undertaken by Thomas May and Donald Atkinson recovering the outline of the fort.

Along with the archaeologists, the Ermine Street Guard were also present; they reenacted the construction of a turf rampart using authentic Roman tools.

[15] The University of Central Lancashire undertook excavations during the 2010s in the area of the north gate of the auxiliary Roman fort.

[16] In 1993, the first episode of Time Team that was recorded excavated the back garden of 2 Church Street in which a sizeable section of the fort's remains are preserved.