Roman Fort (R) (site of). The wasted remains of an unusually small Roman fort occupy the summit of a narrow gravel plateau on the right bank of the River Clyde. The existence of a fort in this neighbourhood, one day's march N of the fort at Trassiesholm, was suspected by General Roy, but it was not until 1938 that Professor J K S St Joseph discovered its precise location; further excavation, undertaken by the Commission in 1961-6, revealed much of the layout of its defences and gave some indications of its internal plan during three successive periods of occupation. Situated at the junction of the Roman roads leading from Annandale (No. 263) with Nithsdale (No.265), and guarding the bridge or ford by which the latter crossed the river, the fort commanded extensive views along the narrow valley of the River Clyde to the SE and W, but to the N, where the road ascended the steep SE face of Castle Hill by a skilfully engineered zig-zag route, its view was more restricted. The site itself affords moderately strong natural protection, the S side of the plateau, which faces the Clyde being most steeply scarped, probably as a result of riverine erosion in the distant past, the others sloping gently down to low-lying ground, which pparticularly on the E and W, may have been poorly drained in Roman times. Topographical considerations apart, the fort was also admirably sited to watch over and control the local native population. THE FLAVIAN FORT measured approximately 116 m by 69m over a rampart built mainly of turf and earth, and about 5.5m in thickness. Two ditches, each 3.0 m and 1.1 m in average width and depth respectively, lay immediately outside the rampart on all four sides, additional protection being provided by an outlying ditch of slighter proportions, which was traced only on the N and W, but which probably also covered the E front. The position of the two entrances located during excavation, those on the S and W, suggested that in its earliest phase the fort faced S, the via principalis, contrary to common practice in forts of such an elongated plan, running parallel to the long axis; there was, in consequence, apparently no retentura and very probably no porta decumana. At the W gate, the porta principalis dextra, where only a little detailed examination was possible, it appeared likely that there had been a single entrance-passage flanked on either side by a square timber tower.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Roman Fort (R) (site of). It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Crawford 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 Wandel (5.4 km), Redshaw Burn (10.7 km), Durisdeer (17.3 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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