Description

The monument is a Roman road of 1st-century date, which forms part of a system of Roman military sites considered to be the earliest material evidence of a Roman frontier system from anywhere in the Empire and believed to have been in use from Agricola's third campaign in AD 79/80 until the system was abandoned in AD 86/87.

The Roman road consists of a camber running in a straight line from SSW to NNE for a distance of about 590m. It measures about 10m wide and rises to a height of up to 30cm above the surrounding ground surface. At several points a slight ditch is visible along the edge of the camber, particularly on the W side. This may be contemporary with the camber, though it could be associated with more recent forestry operations. Beginning from its SSW end, the road runs along the edge of a recently-felled conifer plantation for a distance of about 230m before running along a narrow forest ride through mature conifer plantation for about 280m. Towards its NNE end, it emerges from the plantation and runs for a further 80m before its definition is lost in the decent of a steep slope towards a disused railway line.

Although well-preserved for most of its length, the road has been damaged at several points by forestry operations.

The area to be protected is sub-rectilinear with maximum dimensions of 600m SSW-NNE by 30m transversely, bounded on its SE side by a modern fence for a distance of 240m, as marked in red on the attached map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to contribute to our understanding of Roman road networks construction. It is a particularly well-preserved and coherent stretch of road for this part of Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

The monument is recorded by RCAHMS as NN81 NE 76.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland