Blainslie
Temporary Camp (Roman)
Site Name Blainslie
Classification Temporary Camp (Roman)
Canmore ID 55914
Site Number NT54SE 18
NGR NT 5520 4420
NGR Description Centred on NT 5520 4420
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/55914
- Council Scottish Borders, The
- Parish Melrose
- Former Region Borders
- Former District Ettrick And Lauderdale
- Former County Roxburghshire
NT54SE 18 centred on 5520 4420.
NT 5520 4420. Air reconnaissance has revealed a large Roman temporary camp at Blainslie barely 1/2 mile south of the very large camp of St Leonards (NT54NW 14). The ditch has been recorded along the whole of the south side, where it is interrupted for a central gate, along most of the west side and part of the east. The SE angle is turned in a curve of large radius.
The south side of the camp is about 1200ft long; the best estimate that can be given for the N-S dimension is 1700ft.
Crop-marks suggest there may be more than one camp, and further observation is needed.
J K St Joseph 1973
At Blainslie, about 3km N of Kedslie, more of the perimeter of the large camp previously identified has now been recorded: the NW angle and about 100m of the N side were seen in the favourable conditions of 1984, confirming that the dimension from N to S is about 510m and the area enclosed therefore about 8.8 ha (46.7 acres). The camp may thus be comparable with the site at Drygrange in both size and plan, and the pair could perhaps be taken to represent successive bivouacs of the same unit proceeding N through Lauderdale; any of the roughly similar camps at Pennymuir, Millside Wood, St Boswells or Pathhead might indicate different stages in the same journey.
G S Maxwell and D R Wilson 1987
Publication Account (17 December 2011)
The camp at Blainslie was first recorded in 1970 by St Joseph from the air (1973: 216) and is situated on gently sloping ground above the Leader Water, close to the presumed line of Dere Street. Parts of all four sides have been recorded, indicating that the camp measured some 493m from north to south by around 375m transversely, enclosing just over 18ha (nearly 45 acres). The camp is slightly irregular in form, with a distinct change of alignment in the centre of the south side at an entrance gap. A second gate in the southern part of the west side is protected by a titulus. A small annexe or further camp is visible at the centre of the south side, enclosing the area where the entrance gap is located. It extends some 65m to the south and is possibly 70m wide, enclosing an additional c 0.45ha (1.1 acres).
R H Jones 2011
Sbc Note
Visibility: This site is visible as a cropmark.
Information from Scottish Borders Council
