Description

The monument comprises the remains of a Roman fortlet dating to the 1st or 2nd century AD. It has been recorded as cropmarks on oblique aerial photographs. On aerial photographs the fortlet is visible as a rectilinear ditched enclosure with rounded corners and a single entrance gap on the southwest. It measures about 40m from northwest to southeast by about 33m within a ditch about three metres broad. The monument is located on level ground at about 70m above sea level.

The scheduled area is irregular. It includes the remains described above and an area around within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The national importance of the monument is demonstrated in the following way(s) (see Designations Policy and Selection Guidance, Annex 1, para 17):

a.        The monument is of national importance because it makes a significant contribution to our understanding or appreciation of the past as part of the Roman strategic network of camps, forts, fortlets and signal stations. It adds to our understanding of Roman military expansion into Scotland.

b. The monument retains structural, architectural, decorative or other physical attributes which make a significant contribution to our understanding or appreciation of the past. In particular there is potential for the preservation of buried features and deposits relating to the fortlet, its use and abandonment.

d.   The monument is a particularly good example of a Roman fortlet that survives as buried remains. It is therefore an important representative of this monument type.

e.   The monument has research potential which could significantly contribute to our understanding or appreciation of the past. It contributes to our understanding of the Roman military occupation and control in Scotland.

f.   The monument makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the historic landscape as part of the wider Roman strategic network of military installations. It has the potential to add to our understanding of Roman military occupation during the period of Roman occupation.

Assessment of Cultural Significance

This statement of national importance has been informed by the following assessment of cultural significance:

Intrinsic characteristics (how the remains of a site or place contribute to our knowledge of the past)

The monument is a Roman fortlet that has been recorded as cropmarks on oblique aerial photographs. It may have been occupied in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Fortlets were small outposts built for about 80 soldiers or fewer, usually protected by a single rampart and ditch and containing accommodation to house the soldiers. The fortlet is visible in cropmarks as a ditched enclosure with rounded corners and an entrance on the southwest. The cropmarks indicate that the ditch of the fortlet survives below the topsoil. Archaeological remains relating to the occupation of the fortlet may survive in the interior.

Scientific study of the monument has the potential to produce more detailed information and improve understanding of Roman military engineering. The monument will preserve evidence for the construction, use and abandonment of the fortlet. Deposits within the ditch may contain important paleoenvironmental evidence that can help us reconstruct the environment while the monument was in use. Archaeological deposits within the monument may preserve material with the potential to provide a better understanding of the development sequence and use of the monument.

Contextual characteristics (how a site or place relates to its surroundings and/or to our existing knowledge of the past)

The fortlet forms part of a wider network of forts, camps and roads which were used as part of the Roman occupation of southern Scotland. It is positioned alongside the Roman road which formed part of a much longer route connecting the fort at Carlisle (Luguvalio) to the Roman frontier on the Forth-Clyde isthmus via Annandale and is part of a complex of Roman military remains in this locality. This includes the 2nd century Roman fort at Birrens with its annexes and associated remains (SM666; Canmore ID 67099) about 830m to the northwest. This fort was also built on the location of an earlier fortlet. Three Roman camps of differing dates have also been recorded about 400m to the north (SM2746; Canmore ID 67103) and 390m and 550m to the northwest (SM666; Canmore ID 67155 and 67149) respectively.

The concentration of Roman military remains in the area around Broadlea highlights the strategic importance of this location and enhances the fortlet's significance. Study of this monument in relation to the Roman remains nearby has potential to enhance our knowledge of the use, development, military occupation and strategic importance of this location during the Roman period.

Study in relation to other Roman monuments in southern Scotland has the inherent potential to make a significant addition to our understanding of the past, in particular the construction techniques and relationship to the wider road network used by the imperial Roman Empire in its invasions and occupations of what is now Scotland in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Study of the fortlet in relation to other Roman monuments has the potential to increase our understanding of the scale of Roman intervention into southern Scotland and its likely impact upon the native population.

Associative characteristics (how a site or place relates to people, events, and/or historic and social movements)

There are no known associative characteristics that contribute to this monuments' national importance.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

Historic Environment Scotland http://www.canmore.org.uk reference number CANMORE ID 67156 (accessed on 24/11/2023).

Local Authority HER/SMR Reference MDG7486 (accessed on 24/11/2023).

Breeze. D. J. (1996) Roman Scotland. Historic Scotland: Edinburgh.

RCAHMS (1997) Eastern Dumfriesshire: an archaeological landscape. RCAHMS: Edinburgh.

St Joseph, J.K. (1951) Air reconnaissance of North Britain, Journal of Roman Studies, 41, 52-65.

Canmore

https://canmore.org.uk/site/67156/

Source: Historic Environment Scotland