Details |
Cropmarks of a small Roman fort or fortlet discovered in 1983 by the RCAHMS and subsequently photographed in more detail by them, CUCAP and the Roman Gask Project in following years. The fortlet, which appears to be approximately 60m square over the rampart, lies at the higher, northwest end of a plateau at the mouth of Glen Clova and immediately west of the confluence of the Prosen Water and the River South Esk, commanding views over the rivers. The position of the southeast defences of this Roman fort was ascertained by trial excavation led by Maxwell, which also discovered the inner ditches to be v-shaped and 4.9m apart and possible post-holes for a gate-tower. No artefactual evidence of date was recovered. There was evidently only one period of Roman occupation, but a shallow construction trench lying immediately within the innermost ditch on the southeast side probably represents part of an earlier native settlement, whose presence is also indicated by a ring-ditch cropmark recorded on air photographs within the interior of the fort. A possible annexe, with gate protected by a clavicula was discovered to the south-east. Maxwell and Wilson classify this as a Flavian 'glen-blocking' fort of 0.46ha. The northern ditch of the forlet has probably been destroyed as the bank of the River South Esk is steeply eroded at this point. A large-scale (3ha) resistivity survey was conducted by the Roman Gask Project team led by Woolliscroft and Hoffmann in 2002. The survey revealed the northwest corner of both the fortlet and neighbouring camp, showing that the size estimates of both sites made from aerial evidence are substantially accurate. However, the ditch of the supposed fortlet annexe was traced crossing both of the fortlet's own ditches, which must cast doubt over its identity. The double ditch was confirmed around the fortlet, with a triple ditch on the west and on the west of the south. The southern entrance was confirmed, but the west and east lack entrances and the north probably mirrored the south, as at Cargill fortlet. A number of probable native features, including a souterrain, were already known from the air outside the fortlet. The geophysical work revealed at least four more small ring features, which may be roundhouses. One of these appears to be attached to the southern side of the souterrain in a way that suggests that both are part of a unified structure.
|