Description

The monument comprises the remains of a Roman camp dating probably to the Antonine occupation of AD 140-160. The monument survives partly as earthworks and partly as buried features and deposits visible as cropmarks captured on oblique aerial photographs. The camp is located NW of Stobilee Burn, on a SE-facing slope at about 225 to 240m above sea level.

The Roman camp is parallelogram in form, measuring around 509m from NE to SW by 389m transversely, and encloses an area of at least 18ha (45 acres). It was first recorded as an earthwork in 1764 by Roy and stretches of the NW, NE and SE sides of the camp still survive in earthwork form. Two of the original tituli (external protection for the gateway) are visible in Camp Wood on the NW side and another survives as an earthwork on the NE side. Elsewhere the upstanding rampart stands about 0.7m high and 4m wide, with an accompanying ditch. Excavations in 1971 and 1977 recorded that the ditch was V-shaped in profile, around 3m in width and up to 1m deep. Seven Trajanic and Hadrianic coins were found at the camp after ploughing in 1986. Some modern development has taken place in the NE part of the camp.

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, drystone dykes and telegraph poles. The scheduled area also excludes the top 300mm of road surfaces to allow for their upkeep and maintenance.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because it has the inherent potential to contribute to our understanding of the past, in particular, the construction, organisation, use and role of Roman temporary camps in Scotland. Its importance is enhanced because of the very rare survival of upstanding elements of the camp, including substantial sections of the rampart and up to three of the tituli (external protection for the gateway). There is high potential for important buried evidence to survive in the fills of the defensive ditches defining the perimeter of the camp, including palaeoenvironmental remains and artefactual and other dating evidence relating to the construction and use of the camp. Within the camp, there is high potential for the survival of occupation evidence in the form of building foundations, rubbish pits, latrine pits, bread ovens and other features: such remains can add significantly to our understanding of the lives of Roman soldiers while in the field. Organic evidence from the ditch fills could provide information about land-use and the environment at the time of the camp's construction. Spatial analysis of the network of camps, forts and Roman roads can inform our understanding of Roman military strategy and offer insights into the impact of Roman occupation on the local Iron Age population and landscape. The loss of the monument would diminish our understanding of the construction and use of temporary camps by the Roman army, our knowledge of Roman period military structures, economy and social practice, and our understanding of the relationship between the Romans and the native inhabitants.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

Historic Environment Scotland http://www.canmore.org.uk reference number CANMORE ID 47628 (accessed on 03/05/2016).

West of Scotland Archaeology Service: record number WOSAS PIN 10713.

Davidson, J M 1952, 'From Corbiehall (Castledykes) to the Forth-Clyde isthmus', in Miller, S N (ed), The Roman occupation of south-western Scotland, Glasgow, 69-70.

Jones, R H 2011, Roman Camps in Scotland, Edinburgh, 173.

RCAHMS 1978, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Lanarkshire: an inventory of the prehistoric and Roman monuments, Edinburgh, 128, 141-3, 159, no 253, fig77.

Roy, W 1793, The military antiquities of the Romans in Britain, London, 61-2.

Wilson, D R 1972, 'Roman Britain in 1971. I. Sites explored', Britannia 3, 304.

Canmore

https://canmore.org.uk/site/47628/

Source: Historic Environment Scotland