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Notes on the Roman Forts at Rough Castle and Wester- Wood, Wit Hpostscripta Georgb Si Y B E

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Notes on the Roman Forts at Rough Castle and Wester- Wood, Wit Hpostscripta Georgb Si Y B E II. NOTES ON THE ROMAN FORTS AT ROUGH CASTLE AND WESTER- WOOD, WIT HPOSTSCRIPTA GEORGB SI Y B E. MACDONALD, K.C.B., LL.D., D.LiTT., P.B.A., P.S.A.ScoT. The following communication may most fitly be regarded as a continuatio f thao n t e Societmadth o t e a yyea o regardin ag r e th g forts at Old Kilpatrick and Croy Hill. The motive underlying the investigatio e methods similarth wa nd an ,s employed were identical. Thasayo t eacn s i ,i t h cas ea stud f previouyo s account d revealeha s d a poin r pointo t f speciao s l difficulty whic ha littl e spade-work might reasonably be expected to elucidate, and in both the principle of aiming at a limited objective was r-igidly adhered to. Here and there clues which unexpectedly presented themselves were followed up. But in the process d indeean , d throughout, great care was take o avoit ne th d unnecessary disturbance of anything that might prove valuable as evidence in the event of a really searching exploration being carried e mor th r oules o en i ts distant future. Permission to cut a few trenches at Rough Castle was most courteousl . DouglaT r yM sgrantey b Wallace e m d ,e th facto n o r Callendar estate, acting on behalf of Mr Forbes, the proprietor, while Misd Mran s Drysdale were equally kin consideratd dan t Westerwoodea . e actuath r l Fo diggin s fortunatelwa gI y abl o securt e e serviceth e s r AlexandeM of d ralread ha Mann o y wh ,o effectivelhelpes e m d y elsewhere. Circumstances unfortunately compelled me to draw largely on the kindness of friends for assistance in the work of supervision. CurieO . MA r, C.V.O., paid repeated visit boto t s Johr h M sites nd an , Mathieson spent three days at Westerwood, where some excellent photographs were taken for me by Mr Curie and Mr J. S. Richardson. abls folloo t ewa I w y thin a tim I what s wa goina e wa n whet o g n I was laid aside by illness. Once again, however, my chief obligation Samuer M o it s l Smith grudgeo wh , d neither tim r troubleno obtaio et n Early1 Christian Monuments of Scotland, part iii. p. 418, fig. 435. 2 Ibid., part iii . 428p . , fig. 448. 244 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , MARC , 1933H13 . informatioe th f whicho n virtuan i I s wa. searchn i wa sl e chargH . e e operationoth f s during some critical stage t Bouga s h Castld an e during their whole cours t Westerwooda e r Calder'M . e s th pla f o n latter fort, which appears as fig. 13, is a reproduction of one drawn by Mr Smit n measurementsh ow fro s mhi , verifiee morth t ea d difficult points by Mr Mathieson. Figs. 6, 7, and 8 are also based on Mr Smith's measurements and sketches. The cost of the enquiries was covered by fro 4 a grane Society'£2 mth f o t s Excavation Fund. ROUGI H CASTLE.' To those whose memory carries them back to 1903 a visit to the Rough Castle of to-day is a somewhat depressing experience. The excavation f thao s t year aroused much public interest while they were in progress, and an appeal that they should be ' left open' was acceded to with a literality that has had unforeseen and disconcerting results. No steps whatever were taken to replace earth that had been moved or to protect the not inconsiderable remains of masonry that were exposed. The upcast, allowed to lie where it had been thrown, is now covered wit hgrowta h that render t indistinguishabli s e fro wore mth k Romanse oth f , whil fragmente eth buildingsf so , whe t disintegratenno d by the weather, have been maliciously demolished by human hands, and the stones utilized for the building of hearths by vagrants who have sheltered within the ramparts. So far, therefore, as the interior is concerned e tas th f verifyin, o k r amplifyino g g earlier results ha s been rendered extraordinarily difficult. The Bath-house (No. 4 in figs. 4 and 11), which was in very fair condition when first uncovered, present sspecialla y melancholy spectacle. There is nothing to recall the photographs of 1903, and even the plan is virtually useles guida s s a excellenplan e a upo th s n i t spote nth Ye .t 2 excavatore oneTh . se tru seeth ideo e n f mo hav o at characted ha e r e ruineoth f d buildin whicn go h thed lighted t i sayyha d s an ,muc h for the conscientious accuracy of Mr Mungo Buchanan's work that, despite this heavy handicap, he should have produced a drawing which, taken as a whole, fits quite admirably into the setting of present-day knowledge. As no attempt to decipher its meaning is made in the original Report, a digression on its interpretation may not be irrelevant here. As a matter of fact, the lessons learned at Mumrills make it extremely eas s reproducereado i yt t I . e onl th fign , i dy1 . changf o e originae 1Th l Repor Rougn o t h Castle, whic quotes hi d passim whan i t follows, wil foune b l d in Proceedings, vol. xxxix. (1904-5) . 442pp , ft. Detailed reference givee sar onln i yvera w yfe exceptional cases. ' Proceedings, vol infra,d . ft. xxxix6 an . , 3 48 d d figs.an an (1904-5)2 4 . 48 . pp , ROMAN FORTS AT ROUGH CASTLE AND WESTERWOOD. 245 10 FEEO 3 T O 2 IO Fig. 1. Plan of the Bath-house. 246 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , MARC , 1933H13 . substance bein e omissiogth dottea f no d line whic expressls hi y stated to be "conjectural." The descriptive term 'Retaining Wall,' which refer thio t s s lines alsha ,o been lefe otheth t outn r O handw . fe a , letters have been added to facilitate reference. As in the case of so many other castella at home and abroad, the entranc bathe fro s th Militare mso th wa et y Way, whic pasn hra t them on the north. A gravelled courtyard gave access on the east to a paved apartment (A), which served as a combined Apodyterium and Frigidarium. Mr Buchanan's "clay bed" doubtless represents the partition wall. Although 110 trace of a cold bath or of a basin for douching has survived, the former presence of one or, possibly, of both is adequatel 'gutter,e y th vouche y b e seer 'b whic dfo no t outsid s hi e whicd an onln e , walhb ca th y a lhav e been intendee o carrth dt f yof waste-water from the Frigidarium. B and C, both hypocausted rooms, were respectively the Tepidarium and the Caldarium. D, from which the furnace juts out into C, was the Prsef urnium; and E, which projects on the west and is likewise hypocausted, was the Sudatorium. The drain issuing from beneath the furnace calls for special notice. Indeed, a desir s examino t ewa t i e thi e sfirs th tha o tt n i instancte m d le e retur Rougo nt h Castle. Thaanalogous i t i te puzzlin th o t s g conduits which were observed at Mumrills is proved by the course it follows, coupled with the account given of it in the Report, where it is said to have been " 5 inches wide and 9 inches deep, covered with flagstones." The circumstance that " when opened it was found to be entirely choked with hard soot" may be thought to lend some countenance to the idea of a discarded ventilating-apparatus, for choking with soot is not quite the fate that one would anticipate for a channel that conveyed water. e otheOth n r hand s certain—i t i , s abl verifo wa t eI e poinX th y t a t last October—that it was linked up with the ' gutter' which drained the Frigidarium. This is new and important evidence, which will have reckonee b o t dfutury witan n ehi endeavou determino rt purpose eth e of such conduits. Nor is it only in regard to the allocation of the rooms that the plan is instructive. It also throws light on the character of the hypocausts, confirming in a striking fashion the inferences drawn at Mumrills. B and C were heated by pillared hypocausts. In the immediate neigh- bourhoo e furnaceth f o d , wher e firth ee woul fierceste b d e pillarth , s were of brick, although, as the photographic record (fig. 2) shows, one o t f soma the d em ha tim r otheo e r been replace a singl y db e stone. Elsewhere ,l eventaal t s durin finae gth l phase floore th , s overhead dha been supporte y blockb d f roughlo s y built masonry. Neverthelest i s woul mistaka e db calo et l these hypocausts channelled. Accordino gt ROMAN FORT T ROUGA S H CASTL WESTERWOODD AN E 7 24 . the Report, "the pillars placed next to the walls stand clear of them by inches3 r o 2e spac th , e between being completely clogged with soot, among which were many broken pieces of tile." This means that the hot carries e wallinside th th wa f sp r o e du abovai e throug h'jacketinga ' of box-tiles, warming the rooms by radiation.
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