Cleddans was one of the small fortlets built along the Antonine Wall in West Dunbartonshire, situated between the forts at Castlehill and Duntocher. Like the other Antonine Wall fortlets, it was active during the relatively brief Antonine occupation of the wall, c. AD 142–c. 160s, and would have housed a small detachment (perhaps 10–20 men) drawn from a nearby garrison fort, functioning as a controlled crossing point and observation post on the frontier.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Cleddans forms part of the evidence that the Antonine Wall was originally planned with closely-spaced fortlets (roughly every Roman mile, in the manner of Hadrian's Wall milecastles) before the scheme was modified by the insertion of additional forts. Its location helps confirm the regular spacing pattern that underpins reconstructions of the wall's original design.
The fortlet was identified through aerial photography and confirmed by limited excavation in the 1970s–80s, revealing a small turf-built enclosure attached to the rear of the Wall with the characteristic north and south gateways. Little in the way of internal structures or finds assemblage has been published, and our knowledge of the interior arrangements remains limited compared with better-investigated Antonine fortlets such as Kinneil or Watling Lodge.
Cleddans was one of the small fortlets built along the Antonine Wall in West Dunbartonshire, situated between the forts at Castlehill and Duntocher. 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.
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