Glenbank

NN80NW 19 centred 8121 0570

For newspaper accounts of discovery, see under 'Archaeological Organisations - RCAHMS'.

(Undated) information in NMRS.

Trial excavation in 1983 confirmed the presence of a small post identified during aerial survey, on the SW side of the Roman road and immediately SE of the ruined farm steading of Glenbank. It measures approximately 33m by 29m with in double ditches, and the filling of one of the ditch terminals on the NE side of the single entrance, which gives on to the road, suggests that the work was deliberately dismantled. No closely datable artefacts were recovered, but the site is presumably contemporary with the fortlet at Kaims Castle (NN81SE 1) which it so closely resembles in plan and dimensions and from which it is almost exactly six Roman miles distant.

G Maxwell 1984.

NN 812 057 Resistivity survey of the fortlet (NMRS NN80NW 19) found that its outer ditch measured c 51m NW-SE by c 49m NE-SW externally. The inner ditch had an external diameter of c 41 x 39m, with an inter-ditch separation of 3-4m. Both ditches appeared unusually slight for such a site, as are those of the towers in the area. The inner ditch entrance gap, at 3-4m, corresponded closely with the 3m entrance found in the fortlet itself, but the outer ditch entrance may have been considerably wider. No sign of an external upcast mound could be detected. The entire fortlet interior showed a higher resistance than the area outside the site, but little other detail was apparent. It appeared to be c 30 x 28m over the ramparts.

Sponsor: Roman Gask Project.

D J Woolliscroft and M H Davies 1998

NN 812 057 Excavations at the Roman fortlet (NMRS NN80NW 19) revealed, as expected, a double-ditched defence (see Woolliscroft and Davies 1998), although these ditches varied considerably in size over their circuit. Inside this, heavily plough-damaged signs of a turf rampart were uncovered, with a single entrance break protected by a substantial, single-phased, four-post timber tower. The interior, however, produced no signs of buildings apart from a single post-hole, although plough-damaged traces of gravel surfacing had survived. Similar results were produced by late 19th-century excavations at the other Gask system fortlets of Midgate and Kaims Castle, but until now it had always been assumed that these investigations had simply missed the evidence. This now appears unlikely and it may be that the sites either had no internal buildings, or that these were built in such a way as to leave no archaeological trace. The uprights for the gate had been dug out at the end of the site's occupation. No dating evidence was uncovered.

Sponsor: Roman Gask Project.

D J Woolliscroft 1999