The Eastern Terminus of the Antonine Wall: a Review G B Bailey* and D F Devereux*

Proc SocAntiq Scot, 117 (1987), 93-104 The eastern terminus of the Antonine Wall: a review G B Bailey* and D F Devereux* ABSTRACT In the light of negative evidence from excavation this paper questions whether Bridgeness was the eastern terminus Antoninethe of Wall. A terminus Carridenat fort preferredis from practical considerations evidencethe and earlier of antiquaries. INTRODUCTION Ever sinc publicatioe eth 191n ni f Macdonald'1o s classic Antonine studth f yo e Walle Th , Roman Wall Scotland,n i bees ha nt i generall y accepted tha eastere tth n terminut a Wale s th f lwa s o Bridgeness, about 2 km east of the town of Bo'ness. Recent studies of the frontier have tacitly concurred with this view without discussin poine gth detain i t Robertsog (e l n 1979; Breeze 1982; Hanso Maxweln& l 1983). Since 1913 Ordnance th , e Surve alss yha o endorsed Macdonald's align- Walfinae s menit th n f lli to easter n eves stageha nd inferresan existence dth terminaa f eo l fortlet ta Bridgeness for which there is no evidence. At the time, Macdonald's view was a departure from general opinion which had placed the terminus at Carriden, where the existence of a Roman site had been known since before the early 18th century (Sibbald 1707). Aerial photography in this century showmajos a e ha b site nro th e t Roma n fort wit hlarga e easter s vicuit n so n sid t Josepe(S h 1949). Macdonald, however, took the 1868 discovery of a 'terminal' distance tablet at Bridgeness, apparently in situ, to be convincing proof of the location of the eastern terminus. The opportunity to test this view arose in 1985 in advance of the redevelopment of the area adjacen e Bridgenesth o t t s Tower, through whic e finahth l metree Antoninth f o s e Wall were considere runo dt . Excavations were carrie Septemben i t dou Falkirre 198th y 5b k District Museum Service under the direction of one of the authors (G B Bailey), and were financially supported by the Scottish Development Department (Historic Buildings and Monuments). EXCAVATION attempIn na locato t Antonine eth e Wall ditch, three trenches wer acrost e cu designate e sth d line with the aid of a mechanical excavator (illus 2). The most southerly of these, Trench D, was cut through a former tennis court surface. It was taken from an exposed rock face to the south-east of the Bridgeness Tower to within 4 m of Harbour Road and was 2-8 m in width. On removal of the tennis court surface a level area of whinstone was revealed throughout the trench which was evidently the resul recenf o t t terracing secone Th . d trench, theTrencs nwa , placeh A e nort e th th df o h o t 4- 9m * Falkirk Museum, Hope Street,U Falkirk5A 1 FK , 94 SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, 1987 1. Old Grange House 2. Grahamsdyke Farm . 3 Deacon Stone ILLUS 1 The eastern terminus of the Antonine Wall after Macdonald, showing related features tennis courts. It was 22 m long and varied in width from 1-2 m in the east to 5 m in the west. The depth of deposits above natural varied fronaturae mTh 2- . o t 1- 4m l 4 m deposit s were 0- lowee 3m th n ri trence th 1t f lowe -o h bu 5m easwes e d thad th r ten t en ntha a truncatee nth d deposi Trencn ti h D.A continuous laye f daro r k brown clay loam, some whole 0- thickth 4m n e ra ,lengt e trencth f ho h immediately abov naturale eth . This layer contained some lump coaf so wels a l18th s a lsomd -an e early 19th-century pottery, and clearly represented a cultivation soil. No structures were observed in this layer and there were no traces of the Wall ditch The substantial stone and clay platform of an early 19th-century chemical work's known to have been situated here overlay the cultivation soil. This in turn was overlaid by furnace slag. t inthillside cu o th Trencs wa e hfroB m Harbour Road monumene soutm th 6 f , ho t com- memoratin discovere gth distance th f yo e tablet. Bedroc founs kwa d 2- belo7m w tha Trencn i t , hA risinf trence o th m f g trench o 8-e he wes3 0-9 e fro rea e d 0th m th roa th e f th mn en t ro th i o dA .t angular whinstone chippings covere dthia n dark loamy horizon which contained 18th 19thd an - - century material chippinge Th . s were presumably derived fro terracine mth tenni e th f go s courts. Nearer to the road the dark brown loamy horizon widened to a depth of 1 m, but was found to contain very recent material throughout. A hand-dug trench (Trench C, illus 3) was excavated behind the tablet monument, immediately findspoe eas th Bridgenese f th to f o t s table indicates ta Ordnance th y db e Survey depta -t 51 m A .f ho to 1-8 m the modern dark loamy soil gave way to an orange-brown silt clay (context 004). From its location it may be assumed that this represents a hill wash deposit; 0-08 m below the top of this horizon in the southern part of the trench was a surface of angular sandstone cobbling (003). A drystone wall running diagonally across the trench from north-north-west to south-south-east bor- dered the cobbled surface. The wall was composed of two distinct sections. North of a modern pipe it consisted of roughly shaped stone blocks (006), the northern limit of which could not be determined becaus larga f eo e recent disturbance reaching dow bedrocko nt soute stoneth e ho th .T s were smaller BAILEY AND DEVEREUXI THE EASTERN TERMINUS OF THE ANTONINE WALL: A REVIEW 95 ILLUS 2 Location of the 1985 excavation trenches 96 SOCIET ANTIQUARIEYOF SCOTLANDSOF , 1987 ILLUS 3 Trench C showing the drystone retaining wall with faces on their northern sides only (007). There were two and occasionally three courses in this length, the whole curving gradually to the north-east before leaving the trench. A scatter of similarly faced stone norte th thif ho so t s indicated tha wale originalld tth lha y bee falled n talleha nd dowran n the slope. Below the tumbled stones the hillwash (now 005) continued for a further 0-1 m where it rested upo whinstonee nth late eTh . Medieval potter groun yi (sepB e finds report founs )wa thi n di s layer cobbline Th . g (003 hillwasf 0-0o )n o als 0m o 5y -t 1 ola h abov bedroce eth k which sloped 0-9m within the trench, fromlthe south-west (at 8-63 m OD) to the north-east (at 7-72 m OD). No pottery was founlayee th n rdi beneat cobblinge trenchee hth th l al evidenco n sn I . Antonine th f eo e Walr lo Ditc observeds hwa werr findy no , Romaef an so n date recovered. INTERPRETATION The discovery of ithe Bridgeness tablet was communicated to the members of the Society of Antiquarie Scotlanf so Henry db Cadel yGrangee M th f lo , Bo'ness lettea n ,i r date Januar3 d2 y 1869. The tablet had been found in April of the preceding year (Cadell 1869), 'wit facs hit e dow slopina n i g direction broked an , thren i e beelon d a places r ha g nfo d timan , e covered with fro2Vio t m 1 fee f . soilupo o . t . ,nrock a y promontory just abov harbouy em f o r Bridgeness flowes ha a d,time e se and rounth e t promontorth ,a ,e dth y withi stoneyarde 0 n1 th f so , beaca wal a d se washef ahlan show s o remaind e i ol th n y nda b f shellso sandd san . .. a considerable quantit f square'yo d sandstones, roughly dressed, were buriebane th klittla n di e unde nead an r r wher tablee foundes th probabld wa t an , y Roman.' In Cadel191M 3H l published another accoun Storye Th Forth e n i to th f (Cadell 1913), whereie nh stated that, 'At Bridgeness a discovery was made in 1868 of a remarkably fine Roman legionary tablet apparently marking the hitherto doubtful position of the eastern end of the wall of Antoninus ... it was found BAILEY AND DEVEREUX: THE EASTERN TERMINUS OF THE ANTONINE WALL! A REVIEW | 97 lying face promontore dowth n no whinstonf yo poina t efeea 9 1 t t abov levee e th ordinar f lo y spring tides. The stone, which I saw lifted up from its resting place on the day it was found, was lying face down, not flat on the ground, but over a hollow in the soil, and it had evidently been carefully laid there and covered up with a few inches of soil. The tablet was found lying on about 3 feet of unstratified forced soil, resting on the whinstone of the Bridgeness promontory. Close to this stony dr ed dykspool n f squarea teo d free-ston eRomane sucth s ha s use constructinn di g their permanent camps was found, extending for a few feet like a rough retaining wall round the face of the promontory about 5 or 6 feet below the flat ground under the tablet.' In 1925 he again repeated this information (Cadell 1925): 'The tablet was discovered lying face down, where it had apparently been laid when the Romans departed heigha fee9 t 1 a ,t f o abovt e high tid stony edr levele a usua e t dykth bu ,f leo squared Roman building stone founs swa feed6 feet3 1 unde tr abovo t i r e high-tide levelf o wel d t an ,ou l reac wavesf ho highese Th .

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