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Roman marching camp. The camp at Kair House in the Howe of the Mearns was first recorded from the air in 1945, although the area had been noted as a potential site for the Roman army by Roy (1793). Subsequent aerial survey has recorded most of all four sides as a crop marks. The camp lies along the south west part of a small hill above the Bervie Water, some 15km from the coast at Inverbervie. It is also located almost midway between the large camps of Raedykes and Balmakewan. The camp measures around 870m from north east to south west by about 600m transversely, enclosing an area of some 53.5ha. A titulus is clearly visible in the centre of the south west side, and a possible titulus in the north east side, just to the west of the road. Given this size of the camp it is assumed that it probably had six gates. Most of the camp lies in arable fields, but a small stretch of upstanding rampart survives on the north east side. The rampart is spread about 3.7m wide and measures 0.3m high in the plantation, and is 5.4m wide and up to 1.1m high in the grass, although it is increasingly disturbed and reduced as it approaches the road. A watching brief was carried out in November 2003 on groundworks for a new electricity pole, but no features or artefacts were recorded. A watching brief was carried out by SUAT in April 2004 during groundworks for an underground cable from Kair House, recorded a ditch with a U-shaped profile (see NO77NE0078): its location suggests that it is not part of the Roman camp, and a sample from the ditch fill was radiocarbon dated to 1030 - 1250 AD. A watching brief was carried out by MAS in August and September 2006 during creation of a horse riding school, stables and garage at Kair House, but no archaeological features or artefacts were recorded. A collection of Roman (and more recent) coins were recovered circa 20 years ago from a field within the camp.
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Historic Environment Records (HER)