centred . FORT (R) (site of) No traces can now be seen of the Roman fort at Bearsden; it has long since been built upon. Parts were still extant in the 18th and 19th centuries, the S side and SW angle being best preserved at that time (cf OS 25" 1861). Excavations by Dr D J Breeze, from 1973 to 1980, have shown that the fort, which was attached to the rear of the Antonine Wall, was 112m N-S by 100m externally and covered an area of 1.12 hectares (2.77 acres). An annexe on the E side measured c 109m N-S by possibly 55m. The ramparts, of turf construction with stone bases, were fronted by a single ditch on the S, triple ditches on the W, and a double line of ditch outside the annexe in the E. Numerous internal buildings found included barracks, granaries, workshops and officers quarters, while a bath-house and latrine lay in the annexe. Two cobbled foundations W of the fort defences formed part of the civil buildings which are presumably of Roman date. Exploration to the E, W and S of the fort revealed no further trace of civil habitation. No trace of the putative fortlet was found and no part of the site revealed evidence for more than the Antonine 1 period of occupation although the via principalis had been raised and widened. Finds included a building stone inscribed to the XX Legion Valeria Victrix, pottery dateable to 142- 158 AD and a group of iron objects. Finds prior to 1946 comprise an intaglio, a second brass of Trajan and a bronze of Constantine I. G Macdonald 1918; 1934; A S Robertson 1952; D J Breeze 1973; 1975; D R Wilson 1975; R Goodburn 1976; S S Frere 1977; 1978; R Goodman 1979 The N wall of the changing room of the bath-house (under guardianship) was examined. Only one phase of post-holes was found, though there were 2 phases in the S wall and in the gravel floor. D J Breeze 1982 Local manufacture of pottery suggested; petrological analysis. D J Breeze 1986 A Magnentius ae (AD 351) was found in the burn, N of the bath-house site. J D Bateson 1990 A watching-brief on a building site S of Roman Road and c.20m beyond the likely position of the E ditches defending the annexe of the adjacent fort, revealed no structural remains to indicate a civil settlement thereabouts; two worn sherds of Roman pottery were recovered. L J F Keppie 1994. NS 545 720 In May 1995, GUARD undertook a resistivity survey across the line of the southern extent of the ditch of the Roman Fort at Bearsden. The intention was to determine whether the ditch had a causeway on the southern side.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
centred . It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Bearsden is classified as a Roman fort — a military site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Bearsden Roman bath house (0.4 km), Castlehill (1.9 km), Cleddans (3.4 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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