Watling Lodge was a Roman fortlet on the Antonine Wall in Scotland. It was located near what is now Lock Sixteen on the Forth and Clyde Canal in Falkirk with neighbouring forts at Rough Castle to the west and Falkirk to the east. There was also a fort at Camelon to the north. There was also a Roman temporary camp found a short distance south of the site.
Watling Lodge has been described as the best preserved stretch of ditch from the Antonine Wall still in existence today. It is situated along Tamfourhill Road, south-west of Falkirk. This stretch is excellently preserved. One of the best overviews of the site is the video of the Bridgeness Slab by Falkirk Council, presented by Geoff Bailey, Keeper of Archeology and Local History at Falkirk Museum, from about 4 minutes 30s.
In Falkirk, the site is signposted from the A9 and is accessed from the B816, Tamfourhill Road. There is an information panel fairly close to the top of the wall. The panel shows how the Wall may have looked, and suggests Watling Lodge's place in the grand design of the construction.
Sir George Macdonald wrote about the site. A digital reconstruction of the fortlet has been created. A Minecraft model of the site has also been constructed.
Many Roman forts along the wall held garrisons of around 500 men. Larger forts like Castlecary and Birrens had a nominal cohort of 1000 men but probably sheltered women and children as well, although the troops were not allowed to marry. It is likely that large communities of civilians were located around the site.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Watling Lodge was a Roman fortlet on the Antonine Wall in Scotland. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Watling Lodge 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 Colani(c)a? (1.2 km), Rough Castle (1.9 km), Falkirk (2.5 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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This page covers the Roman site at Watling Lodge. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this site alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
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