Cleddans is the site of a Roman fortlet on the Antonine Wall in Scotland. Its postulated existence was confirmed by trial trenching in 1979. Evidence of building work on Cleddans and on the Wall by units of both the sixth and the twentieth legions has been found in the area.
Cleddans Roman fortlet was located by trial trenching in 1980 south of the main road between Duntocher and Bearsden. Hutcheson Hill being halfway between the known Roman forts of Duntocher to the west and Castlehill to the east and having a line of sight between them, it was surmised that it may hold the site of an intermediate fort. This fortlet's discovery at Cleddans seemed to strengthen the proposal that the Antonine Wall was designed with fortlets around every mile as measured by the Romans. The fort discovered measures internally 18 metres (59 ft) east-west by 17.6 metres (58 ft) north-south within a rampart set on a 3.6 metres (12 ft) wide stone base.
Cleddans was constructed between 142 and 154 AD at the order of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius. Quintus Lollius Urbicus, governor of Roman Britain at the time, initially supervised the effort. It was one of a string of forts and fortlets built to support the Antonine Wall; troop movement was facilitated by a road linking all the sites known as the Military Way. Antoninus Pius never visited Britain, whereas his predecessor Hadrian did. Pressure from the Caledonians may have led Antoninus to send the empire's troops further north. The wall, and Cleddans, was abandoned only eight years after completion, and the garrison relocated back to Hadrian's Wall. In 208 Emperor Septimius Severus re-established legions at the wall and ordered repairs; this has led to the wall being referred to as the Severan Wall. The occupation ended a few years later, and the wall was not occupied again.
Most Roman fortlets along the wall held garrisons of around 500 men. Larger forts like Castlecary and Birrens had a nominal garrison of a cohort of 1,000 men but there is evidence that they sheltered women and children as well, although the troops were not allowed to marry. It is likely that there were communities of civilians around the site.
Finds from the site include three or four Roman tablets. One shows a running boar, the emblem of the 20th legion. It was discovered in 1695 at Cochno House. The Hunterian Museum in Glasgow holds it as part of its collection.
A subsequent find was a panelled tablet discovered at Braidfield Farm in 1812, just west of Cleddans Farm. It shows two winged Victories, each standing on a globe, holding up a rectangular inscription. On the left is an armed Mars and, on the right, Virtus is depicted with a sheathed sword and a military standard. There are two decorative pelta shields, one on either side of the slab. The inscription contains the words "Opus Valli": apparently the Romans' name for their wall. The slab also resides in the Hunterian Museum.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Cleddans is the site of a Roman fortlet on the Antonine Wall in Scotland. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fortlet site from the Roman period in Britain.
Cleddans is classified as a Roman fortlet — 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 Duntocher (1.4 km), Castlehill (1.7 km), Bearsden (3.4 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
Aubrey Research generates detailed historical reports for any location in Britain, incorporating Roman heritage, Domesday Book records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and much more. Enter a nearby address to begin.
This page covers the Roman site at Cleddans. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this site alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any address in Britain, drawing on Roman heritage, Domesday records, scheduled monument data and medieval history to reveal the complete story of a landscape.
Research the area around Cleddans