Inveravon

Two Roman temporary camps are visible on aerial photographs, some 1,250ft SE of camp NS97NE 14. The smaller is about 225ft square, overlapping the S edge of the larger camp, and extending as far S as the edge of the scarp above the River Avon.

J K St Joseph 1965

Nothing visible on the ground, area now under plough.

Visited by OS (BS) 10 April 1975

Avonbank, NS 961 793 NS97NE 23

Temporary camps. Also known as Inveravon.

RCAHMS 1978, visited July 1977

(St. Joseph 1965, 80)

Both camps are visible on an AP (CUCAP); the smaller, centred NS 9604 7925, being about 1/3 hectare in area with an entrance central to the N side. The larger, centred NS 961 793, is sub-rectangular in shape and approximately 3.0 hectares in area.

Plotted at 1:2500 from AP.

Information from OS Recorder (JRL) 13 February 1980.

These cropmarks lie on a level shelf above the River Avon at 30m OD.

The area is regularly ploughed and there is no surface evidence of the camps.

Visited by OS (MJF) 27 February 1980

NS 96 79 In order to provide supporting information associated with a planning application for a proposed landfill facility, a desk-based assessment and field inspection, and a subsequent field-walking programme, have been undertaken during 1993-4. The application site comprises a large, roughly triangular, arable field bounded on its three sides by an unclassified public road, the Avon Gorge and the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway.

The desk-based assessment identified through aerial photographs the seventeen archaeological or potentially archaeological sites within the landfill application boundary: only no 17 is identifiable in the field. Eight of the sites are known cropmark sites- Antonine Wall frontier works, temporary camps and enclosures etc.

9 NS 960 796 Network of removed field boundaries recorded variously on 19th-20th map sources and aerial photographs (NS97NE 52).

10 NS 962 798 Enclosure with possible rig-and-furrow.

11 NS 962 795 Post-medieval settlement named Bogagich or Bogg, recorded only on pre- OS maps.

12 NS 961 797 Rectilinear parchmarks, possibly structures.

13 NS 961 794 Small rectangular patchmark, possibly an enclosure and possibly associated with site 11.

14 NS 963 794 Embamkment projecting from Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway embarkment, recorded on first edition OS coverage of 1856 but now destroyed.

15 NS 9595 7944 An area of irregular cropmarks, possibly archaeological in nature.

16 N/A Raven Farm, as recorded only in Stuart's Caledonia Romana, 2nd edition (Stuart 1852). 'Raven' is clearly a diminutive form of Inveravon, and the site is probably a misrepresentation of the current farm.

17 NS 9639 7918 Modern concrete structures, probably associated with Birkhill clay mine.

NS 96 79 In order to provide supporting information associated with a planning application for a proposed landfill facility, a desk-based assessment and field inspection, and a subsequent field-walking programme, have been undertaken during 1993-4. The application site comprises a large, roughly triangular, arable field bounded on its three sides by an unclassified public road, the Avon Gorge and the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway.

A fieldwalking programme was subsequently undertaken targeting several of the above sites. The principal aims of the field-walking were: to assess the density of artefacts, whether Roman or otherwise, within the scheduled areas of the Roman Temporary Camps to provide some indication of the date and function of a sub-rectangular enclosure; to locate more precisely and attempt to date a probable ring-ditch; to locate more precisely and, if possible, define the time depth of occupation of Bogagich farmstead (site 11); and to locate any artefactual evidence which might suggest an archaeological origin for the irregular cropmarks (site 15). A total of 15 grids, mostly measuring 90m square, and seven transects were walked, with artefacts collected by 10m square block. All but patently recent artefacts were collected. Areas with no recorded sites were walked to provide indications of background densities of artefacts.

The total assemblage collected is estimated at 4,000-4,500 items. The materials recovered were categorized as modern glazed pottery, other pottery, clay pipe, glass, brick and tile, slate, metal objects, industrial residues, bone and shell, flint and chert, other lithic materials, and miscellaneous objects. A handful of pottery, glass and tile finds from the areas of the Roman Temporary Camps are conceivably of Roman origin. A blue glass bead, stone whorl, small ceramic tile and a corroded coin or token were found from areas adjacent to the enclosure. No evidence was found regarding the date or precise position of the ring-ditch (NS97NE 46). There were no particular densities of post-medieval material around site 11 which might betray the position of Bogagich. A clustering of iron slag was noted in the area around site 15, but this is not enough to suggest that the irregular cropmarks are archaeological features.

A report detailing the work will be deposited with the NMRS.

Sponsor: Scotia Environmental Services Ltd.

A J Dunwell and I B M Ralston 1995.

Field-walking by CFA yielded lithics, pottery of medieval and modern date, glass and tile fragments, a blue glass bead and a corroded coin or token.

L J F Keppie 1996

An aerial transcription was produced from oblique aerial photographs. Information from Historic Environment Scotland (BM) 31 March 2017.

Soil Zone 1

Soil Zone 2

Soil Zone 3

Soil Zone 4

Soil Zone 5

A 1:25000 scale map of the Antonine Wall was published by RCAHMS in 2008. The map shows the course of the Antonine Wall on a modern map base, including areas where the Wall is in public ownership or care and can be visited. The data had been collated as part of the project to prepare maps for the World Heritage Site nomination bid.

The three camps at Inveravon lie in an arable field on land that slopes markedly from north to south before the steep descent to the River Avon. The Antonine Wall runs through the north side of the field, adjacent to a nearby road. All three camps were recorded from the air by St Joseph: camp I in 1955 (St Joseph 1958: 89); and the overlapping camps II and III in the early 1960s (St Joseph 1965: 80). Other cropmarks in the field include rectilinear enclosures, a ring-ditch, a trackway, and cultivation remains.

Camp I lies just over 100m to the south of the Antonine Wall. It was originally recorded as square in form (St Joseph 1965: 80), but a reappraisal of the air photographs suggests that it is rectangular, measuring almost 210m from ENE to WSW by 160m transversely, enclosing an area of about 3.3ha (just over 8 acres). Excavations were undertaken in 1983 in advance of the laying of gas pipelines, and these recorded that the ditch on the east side was shallow and flat-bottomed with sloping sides, about 1m wide and 0.55m deep. A stone-packed post-hole and traces of a second were recorded in the interior of the camp (Keppie and Walker 1990: 143).

The north side of the camp could not be located during these excavations, although it was later visible from the air (and was recorded by RCAHMS).

Entrance gaps are visible in the NNW and SSE sides, towards the NNE end, that on the SSE being protected by a titulus. This suggests that the camp may have faced east rather than north directly towards the Wall.

Camp II lies some 200m south-east of camp I, on slightly flatter ground. Camp III overlaps its south-west side, close to the west angle, but the relationship between the two camps is unknown, and the south-west side of camp III is only partially recorded as it reaches the edge of the field and Avon Banks Wood. Camp II measures about 195m from north-east to south-west by 153m transversely, enclosing an area of about 2.9ha (7 acres). There is an entrance gap in the centre of the northeast side, protected by a possible titulus; there are further possible entrance gaps in the north-west and south-east sides.

Camp III is much smaller than it neighbours, measuring 65m from north-west to south-east by about 63m transversely, enclosing some 0.4ha (1 acre). There is an entrance gap in the centre of the north-east side, and, curiously, the camp intersects the south-west side of camp II rather than utilise its perimeter as a fourth side (although the relationship between the two is unknown). Field walking in the field near the camps in 1995 yielded various fragments of pottery, glass and tile, some of which may be Roman in origin (Dunwell and Ralston 1995: 12).

R H Jones.