Publication Account
Date 1985
Event ID 1016604
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016604
In the Country Park at Kinneil House, a fortlet and a short stretch of the Antonine rampalt have been partially reconstructed. The fortlet was only discovered in 1977 and has subsequently been excavated, showing that the interior measured 21m from north to south by 18m transversely within a bank 3m thick. Like the Antonine Wall, the bank around the fortlet was built on a stone base, but, instead of being constructed entirely of turves, it had an earthen core revetted by turf.
There were two entrances, one on the north leading through the Antonine Wall, and a second on the south, connecting the fortlet to the Military Way (not visible). Within the interior, and now marked by short wooden uprights, there were the traces of post-holes, which formed two timber buildings used to house the garrison, as well as the remains of stout gateways at the two entrances. Outside the fortlet further protection was provided by a shallow ditch which abutted the Wall on the east and west.
Besides the better known and much larger faits attached to the rear of the Antonine Wall, there is also a series of smaller fortlets, to which Kinneil belongs. Some nine have been discovered so far but it is likely that they were originally placed at intervals of about 1.6km along the entire length of the Wall. Their precise function is not known but, on plan at least, they appear to be equivalent to the milecastles along Hadrian's Wall.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: The Clyde Estuary and Central Region’, (1985).
