Description

This monument consists of a Roman bath-house and latrine which has been left undeveloped in a modern housing estate. The buildings have been consolidated and opened for public inspection.

The bath-house was 30m long and, at its widest, 15m wide. It contained 6 rooms and 2 plunge baths. The cold room and the changing room were (unusually) constructed of timber, but the rest of the building was of stone. The hot dry room lay to the north of the cold room, the hot steam range to the E and the apsidal cold bath to the S. There were 3 rooms in the hot steam range, the doors to these rooms carefully arranged to avoid a through draught. Raised floors and waterproof plaster remained in place on floors and walls. Fragments of stone benches were found in two rooms. There were signs of rebuilding during the life of the structures. On abandonment the bathhouse was demolished. Beside the bath-house lay the remains of an earlier building, while to the SE lay a latrine. Part of the fort annex rampart survived beside the latrine.

The area to be scheduled measures 35m E-W by a maximum of 30m N-S, to include the bath-house, earlier building, latrine, part of the annex rampart and an area around it in which traces of activities associated with its construction and use may survive, as shown in red on the attached map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance for its potential contribution to an understanding of military life and architecture on the northern frontier of the Roman Empire, and for its quality as a visitor monument affording a rare glimpse into the quality of life for the Roman occupiers of Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography
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Historic Environment Scotland Properties
Antonine Wall - Bearsden Bath-house
https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/antonine-wall-bearsden-bath-house
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Source: Historic Environment Scotland