Publication Account
Date 1985
Event ID 1016236
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016236
Though little more than a flat-topped, gentle grassy knoll, the site is sufficiently elevated to dominate the surrounding countryside. The outlook is particularly good to the west and north; to the east the tops of the Eildon Hills some 14-15km distant are visible in the depression in the ridge. Given the signal-post on top of Eildon Hill North (no. 84), communication was possible direct from Oakwood to the Roman nervecentre of New stead.
The fort was established cAD 81 during Agricola's northward advance. During this occupation there were two phases of building, the second mainly reconditioning the defences of AD 81-86 which consisted of a thick turf-built rampart surrounded by two ditches. These are clearly visible on the west side and on parts of the north and south sides. Adjoining the south side, evidenced by a single ditch, was an annexe running over 60m south from the south-west corner and thence east to the modem drystone dyke dividing Oakwood and Hartwoodmyres farms.
Though part of the main street running north-south is covered by a small plantation, all four gateways can be identified, set back over 9m from the front of the rampart at the narrow end of a tunnel-shaped passage. All four gates were of timber and comprised twin portals placed side-by-side, flanked by square towers-an unusual design. The towers at the west gate were not enclosed; they were simply frameworks for fighting platforms similar to those shown on Trajan's column in Rome.
A short distance away, across the road, traces survive of a temporary camp (NT 425255), probably built to house mainly labourers working on the fort.
It seems likely that Oakwood was abandoned cAD 100 when most Roman troops in Scotland were withdrawn to the Tyne-Solway line. Given burning on the timber stumps of the east and west gates, identified during excavation, the occupation may have ended with a disastrous (or deliberate?) conflagration, as at Newstead. Unlike Newstead, however, Oakwood was never rebuilt.
Information from 'Exploring Scotland's Heritage: Lothian and Borders', (1985).
