Roman BritainVelunia(te)
Roman Fort · Military

Velunia(te)

Roman Britain
Pleiades ID: 89309
Site type
Fort
Category
Military
Latitude
56.0102
Longitude
-3.5641
Overview

History & context

Roman Fort (R) (site of) OS 6" map, (1971). .01 NT 0233 8076 Paving .02 NT 0244 8084 Paving See also . In 1945 a Roman fort at Carriden was observed on A Ps. 'In an arable field three parallel ditches, on a N-S alignment, mark the E side of the fort. They bend round to the W at their S end, and, rather less than halfway along their line from the S, there is an interrruption as if for a gate. A visit to the site in September 1945 showed that no remains were to be seen on the surface, the fields and gardens which cover the site having removed all traces. A trial trench across the eastern defences at 100' N of the SE angle showed the middle ditch to be 10 1/2' wide and 4 1/4' deep. The inner ditch, at an interval of 30', was found to be 12 1/4' wide, but water prevented its depth from being determined. No remains of a rampart were found in this section. Two trenches dug within the area of the fort showed 18" of topsoil, covering natural clay and marl. Some rough scattered stones were also encountered, and a shallow pit, cut to a depth of 10" in the subsoil." This limited exploration yielded no remains of buildings, but Roman pottery of Antonine date was found, and donated to the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS). "An impression that the site had been heavily denuded was conveyed both by the removal of the rampart and the shallowness of the ditches as now existing.' Roman altars, inscriptions, coins, and a gold medal of Vespasian are said to have been dug up at Carriden. A centurial stone, now disappeared, was built into the wall of Carriden House (G Macdonald 1901). J K St Joseph 1949; G Macdonald 1934; Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1949. No trace of the Roman fort at Carriden is visible on the ground. The W part of the fort lies in the grounds of Carriden House and the site is occupied by ornamental gardens. The E part lies in a field under cultivation, and there are no surface indications of the structure. Visited by OS (D S) 24 January 1957. NT 025 808. Roman pottery, including Samian, and a sestertius of Hadrian dateable to 119 - 138 A D, was found during ploughing (E J Price 1972). Mr Price has also discovered a stone-built water-course or aqueduct in a plantation NE of Carriden which he thinks may be Roman. E J Price 1972; Information in telephone call from E J Price and E C Waight 27 July 1972. A search of the wood NE of Carriden yielded no information on this watercourse. The extent of the fort is visible on St Joseph air photographs; there is nothing to be seen on the ground. Site surveyed at 1:2500 from air photographs.

Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →

About this site

Questions & answers

What is Velunia(te)?

Roman Fort (R) (site of) OS 6" map, (1971). It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.

What type of Roman site is Velunia(te)?

Velunia(te) 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.

What other Roman sites are near Velunia(te)?

Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Kinneil (4.8 km), Inveravon (7.5 km), Mumrills (10.8 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.

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Everything a full report reveals about Velunia(te)

This page covers the Roman site at Velunia(te). A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this site alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:

Overview
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Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
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Target Zones
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