Publication Account

Date 17 December 2011

Event ID 920873

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Publication Account

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/920873

The camp lies in an arable field to the north of the Antonine Wall, about 500m north of the Roman fort at Balmuildy, in a loop of the River Kelvin east of where the Wall crosses the river. It was first discovered from the air by St Joseph in 1951 (1955: 86).

The camp measures about 257m from north-east to south-west by about 187m transversely, enclosing an area of some 4.7ha (12 acres). Entrance gaps are visible in the centre of south-west and north-east sides, and there are possible gaps in the other two sides. Together these suggest that the camp probably faced south-west towards the nearby fort.

The camp is provided with a small annexe on the eastern half of the north-east side, measuring 71m by 87m and enclosing an additional 0.62 hectares. Unusually, there appears to be a second annexe to the south-east of this, measuring 65m to the south-east by at least 98m, but only parts of the additional north-east and south-east sides have been recorded. The addition of these two annexes increases the entire area enclosed: 4.72ha + 0.62ha + 0.64ha = 5.98ha (14.8 acres).

Only two other camps on the Antonine Wall are known to have been furnished with annexes or attached camps (excepting the Lochlands complex), and the provision of a second annexe is currently unparalleled in Britain.

R H Jones 2011