Description

The monument is the remains a prehistoric palisaded settlement, a prehistoric rectilinear settlement and a Roman camp, which together are likely to span a period from about 1200 BC to AD 300. All three archaeological sites survive as buried features which are visible as cropmarks captured on aerial photographs. The cropmarks define two sides of a square or rectangular Roman camp, with one rounded corner visible. A probable entrance on the E side of the camp appears as a simple gap in the ditch. The prehistoric settlements are immediately adjacent to one another and lie within the northern part of the camp. The monument lies about 50m above sea level on the E bank of the River Annan, on relatively flat arable land.

The visible portion of the Roman camp ditch measures about 260m E- W by 177m transversely and encloses an area of around 5.25 ha, although the original camp would have been larger as only a portion of the site is visible on aerial photographs due to differential land management regimes. The prehistoric rectilinear settlement measures around 60m E-W by 45m transversely and encloses an area of about 0.23 ha. The prehistoric palisaded settlement measures about 40m E-W by 42m transversely and encloses an area of around 0.12 ha. A large timber roundhouse measuring 12m in diameter is visible at the centre of the interior of the palisaded settlement. Traces of another roundhouse have also been identified within the rectilinear settlement.

The scheduled area is irregular on plan, to include the remains described above and an area around them within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduled area specifically excludes the above-ground elements of all post-and-wire fences, hedges, telegraph poles, the top 300mm of modern tracks, and the entirety of the flood defences along the River Annan.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

This monument is of national importance because it has significant potential to contribute to our understanding of Roman camps, including their construction, use and role. It also preserves rare evidence of a palisaded settlement and rectilinear settlement occurring on the same site, suggesting previous use of the landscape over an extended period. The superimposition of a Roman camp may provide evidence of native-Roman interaction. Spatial analysis of Roman temporary camps and the Roman roads that connected them can inform our understanding of Roman military strategy, and the impacts of the Roman presence on local Iron Age communities and the landscape of Scotland. The loss of this monument would impede our ability to understand the construction and use of temporary camps by the Roman army on campaign, both in eastern Dumfries and Galloway and across Scotland as a whole, as well as our knowledge of Iron Age building practices, economy, and social structure.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS record the monument as NY08NE 12 Haningshaw Roman temporary camp, NY08NE 25 Hangingshaw rectilinear enclosure, NY08NE 33 Hangingshaw palisaded settlement. The Dumfries and Galloway SMR records the monument as MDG6650, MDG6655, MDG9607.

Aerial photographs used:

BO5454, DF2395. Copyright RCAHMS.

References

RCAHMS 1997, Eastern Dumfriesshire: An Archaeological Landscape, RCAHMS, Edinburgh.

St Joseph, J K, 1969 'Air reconnaissance in Britain', 1965-68, J Roman Stud, 59, 108

Source: Historic Environment Scotland