Bochastle is a Flavian-period auxiliary fort situated near Callander in Stirlingshire, at the mouth of the Pass of Leny where the Highlands meet the lowland plain. Constructed during Agricola's campaigns in northern Britain around AD 79–80, it covered roughly 2.4 hectares (about 6 acres) and likely held a mixed cohort or small ala. Its occupation was short-lived, abandoned around AD 86–87 when Roman forces withdrew from Scotland following the redeployment of Legio II Adiutrix.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Bochastle was one of the so-called "glen-blocker" forts of the Highland line, sited specifically to control movement between the Highlands and the Forth-Clyde lowlands—in this case the route through the Pass of Leny into the Trossachs. Together with sites such as Drumquhassle, Malling, Dalginross and Fendoch, it formed part of Agricola's strategy for containing the unconquered Caledonian tribes north of the Forth.
The site was identified through aerial photography and partially investigated by Ian Richmond and others in the mid-20th century, revealing the characteristic playing-card outline with rounded corners, ditches, and traces of internal timber buildings; the fort has been damaged by the River Leny and modern land use. Finds have been modest, consistent with a brief single-period Flavian occupation, and no evidence of later Antonine
Bochastle is a Flavian-period auxiliary fort situated near Callander in Stirlingshire, at the mouth of the Pass of Leny where the Highlands meet the lowland plain. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Bochastle 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 Malling (10 km), Doune (12 km), Bannatia? (19.5 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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