Excavation

Date 1988

Event ID 571042

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/571042

NS 759 773 Further small-scale excavation W of the fort (NS77NE 8) showed that, contrary to deduction made in 1986 (see S S Frere 1987) the Military Way ran on a straight course from the west gate. It was represented by a firm though plough-damaged surface of small stones 5.5m wide. To the south of it the shallow gully previously recorded was seen again on a curving course. North of this was a thin layer of burnt material containing pottery which had probably been spread to support a layer of scattered cobbles above it; to the south some other small boundary-ditches were encountered.

S S Frere 1989.

A series of excavations and watching briefs took place at Westerwood fort (NS77NE 8), Antonine Wall and the Military Way between 1985-87 in order to develop the Westerwood Golf Course. The line of the Antonine Wall, Ditch, upcast Mound and Military Way was established. The Military Way was established 70m W of the fort's W gate, and 5m N of the expected line. The road surface was of small stones and gravel, packed hard, and was edged on its S side by a line of larger cobbles. Adjacent to the S side of road was a U-shaped drainage gully 1m wide and 0.1m deep. Two other areas also established the location of the road. In general, ploughing had served much to reduce the extent of the surviving remains, which seemed to have been quite substantial when Macdonald wrote (1933).

A later trench (an extension off of an earlier trench) also located the Military Way and determined it to be some 5.5m heading E towards the visible causeway across the fort-ditches at the western gate.

Two trenches were cut in 1987 c.100m W of the fort, in advance of a pipe-trench, across the Military Way and stone-base of the Antonine Wall. Only a few cobbles remained of the Military Way, at a depth of 0.3m, giving merely a general indication of the road's alignment.

An early antiquarian speaks of the Military Way at Westerwood as going 'round the Fort on the top of the Ramparts' (Gordon 1726). This has been interpreted as a loop road skirting the fort ditches, for the benefit of 'through traffic'. No evidence for such a road was forthcoming during the excavations in 1986-88.

Sponsor: Historic Scotland

L J F Keppie 1996; G Macdonald 1933; A Gordon 1726