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Gilnockie

Temporary Camp (Roman)

Site Name Gilnockie

Classification Temporary Camp (Roman)

Alternative Name(s) New Woodhead; Glencartholm

Canmore ID 67499

Site Number NY37NE 2

NGR NY 3895 7922

NGR Description Centred at 3895 7922

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/67499

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Dumfries And Galloway
  • Parish Canonbie
  • Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
  • Former District Annandale And Eskdale
  • Former County Dumfries-shire

Archaeology Notes

NY37NE 2 3895 7922

(NY 3895 7922) Earthwork (NAT)

OS 6" map (1957)

Roman temporary camp some 1450' by 750', visible on air photographs.

RCAHMS 1920; G Macdonald 1923

At New Woodhead, between 300' and 400' a.s.l. and on a slight SW slope, are the remains of a Roman camp measuring 443.0m NE-SW x 229.0m transversely within an earthen rampart and external ditch. The northern half of the camp lies in open pastureland; the remainder, within a mature wood. The whole of the NW side has been almost completely destroyed by a farm-track with deep side-ditches, and the northern half of the SW side has been destroyed by a now disused railway. It is best-preserved on the SE side where the rampart and ditch are visible in the open pastureland; within the wood, although the rampart is possibly better preserved, the ditch has been re-cut as a drain. There are two well-defined entrances on this side, each covered by a tutulus, and a central entrance is traceable on the NE side. There are now no traces of entrances on the NW and SW side, except for a tutulus preserved in the wood NW of the farm-track. The camp occupies an area of c.25 acres, and therefore falls into J K St Joseph's Series II category (J K St Joseph 1969).

Visited by OS (WDJ) 17 December 1970

No change to previous field report.

Visited by OS (JP) 21 February 1973.

Activities

Field Visit (16 July 1912)

Roman Camp, Gilnockie.

Immediately in rear of the farm cottages at New Woodhead, and about ½ mile due north of Gilnockie railway station, is a large rectangular oblong enclosure with rounded angles, lying partly on grass land and partly within a wood, which presents characteristics of Roman castrametation (fig. 28). The site is a plateau rising gently on all sides to an elevation of some 390 feet above sea-level, not in itself very prominent or greatly exposed, but commanding an extensive prospect over a wide area of country in all directions. The fort lies with its main axis north-east and south-west, and has measured within its defences some 1450 feet by 750 feet, or about 25 acres. It has apparently been surrounded by a single ditch and rampart, the former having now from crest to crest a width of some 18 feet and the latter a breadth at base varying from 20 to 30 feet. Along the north-east end the vallum across the grass field, though much ploughed down, is easily traceable. On the south-east flank from the east angle for a distance of 220 feet it is no longer to be seen; but thereof after across an adjacent meadow through a young plantation and an old wood it can be followed with ease, till it makes a return in a north-westerly direction close to the railway from Riddings Junction to Langholm. With the railway line it gradually converges, and is eventually lost beneath it. On the northwest flank it has been greatly interfered within the formation of a road, ditch, and hedge, which more or less occupy its position, leaving it only partially and intermittently recognisable. On the south-east side, at 520 feet from the east angle, is a well-defined entrance some 72 feet in width, which is covered at ad istance of 36 feet in front by a traverse, a mound 56 feet in length and 22 feet in bread that base at centre, tapering slightly to each end and 3 feet 7 inches in elevation, with a ditch at its base on the outer face. At 126 feet to the north-east of this entrance is a gap in the vallum 10 feet wide, which, if not original, does not seem to be modern. At 400 feet further to the southward, and 478 feet from the south angle, is another entrance 40 feet wide, which is likewise covered 30 feet in front by a traverse 50 feet long and 33 feet broad at the centre, tapering slightly to either end and 3 feet 6 inches in elevation. Any entrance which may have formerly existed through the south-west end does not seem now to be recognisable, the rampart being destroyed at a number of places and the ditch much filled in. Near the centre of the north-east end, immediately in rear of the cottages, a slight break is apparent in the rampart; and some 25 feet in front lies a circular area, measuring in diameter some 33 feet by 27 feet, on which the vegetation is markedly poorer than elsewhere in its vicinity-a condition which may possibly be due to the former existence of a traverse on the spot, the clay from which has deteriorated the soil. The greatest existing height of the rampart above the ditch is about 5 feet. There are no indications of any foundations in the enceinte; and, though the woodland area has been trenched in all directions for drainage, there is no record or tradition of any traces of buildings having been observed or of relics recovered.

RCAHMS 1920, visited 16 July 1912.

Field Visit (August 1980)

Gilnockie NY 389 792 NY37NE 2

This Roman temporary camp is situated on a gentle SW-facing slope about 800m E of Glencartholm farmhouse. A regular parallelogram on plan, it measures about 450m by 220m (9.9ha) within a single rampart and external ditch. Practically the entire NW side is overlain by a modern farm-track, and a railway embankment has encroached on half the SW side. Elsewhere its perimeter may be traced with ease, the SE portion, which lies within a wood, being exceptionally well-preserved; the rampart in these parts measures as much as 6.5m in thickness and 1.2m in height. Each of the six gates was protected by a titulum, but only three, situated on the NE and SE sides, can still be readily identified, and the SW gate has been completely destroyed by the construction of the railway.

RCAHMS 1981, visited August 1980

(RCAHMS 1920, pp. 27-8, No. 45)

Note (1997)

NY 3895 7922 NY37NE 2

Listed as temporary camp.

RCAHMS 1997

Publication Account (17 December 2011)

This earthwork was depicted as a ‘camp’ on the 1st edition of the Ordnance Survey map (Dumfriesshire 1862: sheet liii) but was first properly recorded in 1912 by RCAHMS on field survey (1920: 27–8). It lies on a slope that faces south-west above the River Esk, about 2km south-east of the Roman fort at Broomholm. Stretches of the camp survive as an earthwork, partly in woodland, with a track occupying the line of the north-west side. A now dismantled railway line has destroyed part of its south-west side, and the camp measures 465m from south-west to north-eastby 251m transversely, enclosing 11.3ha (28 acres). Two tituli are visible in the south-east side and a further titulus in the north-west; the camp probably had six entrances.

The upstanding rampart survives to a height of about 1.1m and is spread some 6.5m wide. The accompanying ditch is shallow and about 5m wide. The tituli on the south-east side survive to a height of 1m above a shallow ditch, with their ramparts spread some 7m wide

R H Jones.

Project (29 May 2014)

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by CFA Archaeology Ltd, a desk based assessment and walk over survey (May 29th 2014) was conducted

The historic environment record within the Site Boundary is relatively limited, although there is some potential for the proposed development site to contain previously unknown heritage assets from at least the later prehistoric period onwards, given the historic landscape character of the wider area. Taking this into account, the archaeological potential of the proposed development site is considered to be low.

A summary assessment, on a site by site basis, of the predicted effects on the settings of assets within a 10km radius where the blade tip ZTV indicates that there would be theoretical views of one or more turbines

information from Héléna Gray, (CFA Archaeology Ltd), August 2015

OASIS ID: cfaarcha1-278420

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