Description

This monument is a section of the Antonine Wall which runs from Sandy Loan in the west to the A905 in the east, and includes part of Mumrills fort, the Military Way and various other features known from aerial photography and excavation. The Wall and fort are sited on the eastern end of a ridge which slopes steeply down to the low lying carse land and the Westquarter Burn to the east.

This proposal forms part of a programme which is intended to update the scheduling of the Antonine Wall, and adjusts the protected area along this part of the line of the Wall.

There are no remains visible above the ground surface in this section, but the line of the Antonine Wall and Military Way, the layout of the fort and the location of other features such as a kiln and enclosures to the east of the fort have been confirmed by archaeological excavation. There have been several phases of excavation on the site, in 1923-28, 1958 and 1960. The western annexe of the fort and its western ditches lie to the west of Sandy Loan beyond the scheduled area, and were excavated in advance of being built upon. The eastern and greater part of the fort itself lies immediately to the east of Sandy Loan, and the site and layout of buildings such as the headquarters building, granaries, the bathhouse and the commanding officer's house (complete with its own bath suite) are known from excavation. To the east of the fort, a series of cropmarks visible in aerial photographs indicate the presence of what may be another annexe attached to the Wall, and a separate rectilinear enclosure towards the eastern edge of the plateau, which may have been some kind of temporary structure. A Roman tile or brick kiln was also found to the east of the fort in 1913, set close to the rear of the Antonine Wall rampart. Finds of first century coins and pottery indicate that there had been Roman occupation of some kind on the site prior to the construction of the Antonine Wall and fort, possibly an earlier fort of the Agricolan period, although no structural remains have yet been located of this date.

The area to be scheduled includes the Antonine Wall rampart, berm, ditch and upcast mound, the fort and its associated ditches, the Military Way, the area to the east of the fort where archaeological features are known from aerial photography and excavation, and an area to the E and S where traces of activities associated with the construction and use of the monument may survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map extract. The scheduled area measure a maximum of about 655m E-W by between 250m and 100m N-S.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography
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Source: Historic Environment Scotland