Field Visit
Date 24 January 1957
Event ID 706131
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/706131
NS87NW 4.00 8379 7980 and 8346 7980.
[NS87NW 4.01 8346 7980 Bonnyside West
NS87NW 4.02 8379 7980 Bonnyside East]
NS 8379 7980 and NS 8346 7980. There are two 'expansions' projecting from the S face of the Antonine Wall rampart at Bonnyside. When visited in 1957, they were roughly semi-circular on plan, measuring about 10.0m E-W at the rampart face by 7.0m N-S, with a maximum height of 1.2m. The eastern expansion was excavated in 1957 by the RCAHMS who showed that it had been rectangular, and would have measured about 19' x 10' at a height of 10' above the ground (the estimated height of the rampart). It was formed of turf set on a stone base, the semi-circular appearance being due to the collapse of the weathered turfwork.
Considerations of siting and the discovery of burnt deposits of wood, turfwork and Roman pottery in the immediate vicinity of the eastern expansion indicate that they were beacon stances, communicating with the area N of the Wall.
Visited by OS (JLD) 24 January 1957.
Sources: K A Steer 1959; RCAHMS 1963, visited 1957.
