Lyne is a Roman auxiliary fort situated on a plateau above the confluence of Lyne Water and the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders, west of Peebles. Of approximately 2.6 hectares, it was occupied during the Antonine period (c. AD 140s–160s) and is generally interpreted as garrisoning a part-mounted cohort (cohors equitata), positioned to control the cross-country route linking Trimontium (Newstead) with Castledykes in Clydesdale.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Lyne represents one of the key intermediate stations on the lateral road across the Southern Uplands, securing communications between the eastern and western sectors of the Antonine frontier system. Unusually, the site shows evidence for an earlier, smaller enclosure adjacent to or beneath the stone fort, suggesting more than one phase of military activity in this strategically sensitive corridor.
Excavations by James Curle in 1901 and by Ian Richmond and others in the mid-20th century revealed a stone-walled fort with clay rampart backing, four gates, timber internal buildings including a principia, granaries and barracks, and traces of an annexe and a smaller adjacent earthwork enclosure. Finds were relatively modest — Antonine pottery and small metalwork — consistent with a short single-period Antonine occupation rather than prolonged or repeated use.
Lyne is a Roman auxiliary fort situated on a plateau above the confluence of Lyne Water and the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders, west of Peebles. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Lyne 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 Easter Happrew Roman Fort (0.8 km), Tocherknowe (12.9 km), Castle Greg (23.2 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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