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Publication Account
Date 1986
Event ID 1017433
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1017433
This fortlet, the best-preserved specimen of its class in the region, stands on a steep-sided ridge guarding the pass through which the Roman road climbs out of Nithsdale. It consists of a single massive rampart, 9m thick, and an outer ditch, partly rock-cut, and counterscarp bank, all enclosing a rounded oblong area measuring 31.5m by 18m. The entrance is at the north-eastern end, and 7.3m in front ofit on the levelled platform is a protective ditch or traverse at least 11m long. Vestiges of timber structures, probably barrack blocks, have been found inside.
The road, with which this fortlet was associated, may have been in operation in the Flavian era (AD 85-c 105), but the fortlet itself is one of a number established during the Antonine period after AD 142. Military stations were placed about 16km apart, much closer together than in the most century occupation, and fortlets such as this housed detatchments from the main forts as a means oflocal control.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Dumfries and Galloway’, (1986).
