Field Visit
Date 20 March 1957
Event ID 1111422
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1111422
NS87NW c. 817 794 (unnoted)
Roman Fort, Seabegs (site)
Between Rough Castle and Castlecary, 3 ½ miles further west, there are no superficial indications of a fort. But as this gap is nearly twice as long as the normal interval, there can be no doubt that it was once bridged by an intermediate station situated somewhere in the vicinity of Seabegs. The most likely position for such as fort is at the east end of Seabegs Wood where some remains of fortifications are, in fact, said to have been visible at the end of the 17th century (R Sibbald 1707, 30). Here, between the wood and Seabegs Place, there is an elevated plateau which is admirably adapted for the purpose, with a steep scarp to the N, and commanding a wide view northwards across the Bonny Water and eastwards and westwards along the Wall. Horsley (J Horsley 1732, 171), on the other hand, ignores this site and refers instead to ‘some ruins that possibly may be the remains of a station’ at Dick's House, a village long since demolished, ¼ mile E of Seabegs Place. The latter site is, however, inferior from the tactical point of view since it lies in a hollow, while considerations of spacing are also entirely in favour of Seabegs (G Macdonald 1934, 239-40).
RCAHMS 1963, visited 20 March 1957.
