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North Tawton is a small town in Devon, England, situated on the river Taw.
History
The Romans crossed the River Taw at what is now Newland Mill, a little outside the present town, and established a succession of military camps there over the years. The Roman fort is believed to have had the name Nemetostatio, meaning "The road-station of the sacred groves", and may have been located on the site of an ancient druidic sanctuary. It covered an area of roughly 600 ft (185m) east-west by 390 ft (120m), and was located adjoining the Roman road between Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) and Okehampton. In addition, the site of a temporary marching camp has been identified half a mile to the north.[1]
Nemetostatio - 'The Outpost of the Sacred Grove(s)'
The place-name seems to be an amalgamation of the Celtic word Nemeton 'sacred grove' and the Latin word Stationis 'road-station, outpost'.
It would appear that the Romans built the Nanstallon fort close-by or perhaps directly upon the site of an ancient druidic sanctuary, and hoped by their presence to suppress the native Celtic religion, together with its reputed practice of human sacrifice.
There are a great number of curiously-dubbed villages in the valley of the River Taw and its tributaries, which incorporate variations of the word nemeton in their names. The peculiar-sounding villages whose names include the word Beer, Bear or Beere, must also be counted among them for the simple fact that this is the modern equivalent of the Old English word Bearu, the meaning of which is identical with the Celtic word nemeton.
There is also another marching camp at Alverdiscott (SS4925) some seventeen miles to the north-north-west, positioned on the north-western end of a prominent ridge between the rivers Taw and Torridge.
Evidently, the native Dumnonian tribespeople refused to give up their holy groves and the lands through which flowed their sacred rivers Nimet and Nemet, at least not without a furious struggle. The three Roman forts at Tawton, Barton and Okehampton are very closely situated, each within easy supporting distance of the other, indication perhaps of a considerable amount of fighting in the immediate area; no doubt in response to the Roman desecration of the native's most sacred arboreal temples.
http://www.roman-britain.org/places/nemetostatio.htm
