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Bothwellhaugh
Mention of a Roman structure is made in the Dalziel section of the Old Statistical Account. The fort was rediscovered by J. M. Davidson in 1925. The fort was built in a scalene right quadrilateral pattern and was large enough to house both troops and cavalry.
The fort is likely to have been linked by roads to sites on the Antonine Wall and south at Castledykes but exactly how they were connected is a matter of ongoing study.
A Roman bath house was subsequently found between the fort and medieval bridge anachronistically named 'Roman Bridge'. The bath house, which was found in November 1973 beneath a pond, was moved to higher ground in 1980 and is now open to the public. The complete excavation was carried out in 1975-76 under the direction of Lawrence Keppie. The bath house was made up of: a Vestibule, a
Roman Fort
''Castra'' () is a Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified military base.. Included is a discuss ...
is a site now located within Strathclyde Country Park
Strathclyde Country Park is a country park located on the outskirts of Motherwell in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, named after the former Strathclyde region of Scotland. It is often commonly referred to as Strathclyde, or simply Strathy.
Desc ...
in North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns, and villages. It also borders East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk (co ...
, Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. It is east of where the South Calder Water flows into Strathclyde Loch. The fort is a scheduled monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...
.
Location
Before the flooding of Bothwellhaugh village to create the loch, the site overlooked the point where the Roman road bridged the South Calder Water near its confluence with theRiver Clyde
The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...
. The Roman Road was known as Watling Street; it is shown on old maps from before the diversion of the Clyde and before the rediscovery of the fort. In terms of large towns the fort is west of Motherwell
Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...
, to which it is closest, north of Hamilton
Hamilton may refer to:
* Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States
* ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda
** ''Hamilton'' (al ...
, and south of Bellshill
Bellshill (pronounced "Bells hill") is a town in North Lanarkshire in Scotland, southeast of Glasgow city centre and west of Edinburgh. Other nearby localities are Motherwell to the south, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton to the south ...
.
Discovery
Mention of a Roman structure is made in the Dalziel section of the Old Statistical Account. The fort was rediscovered by J. M. Davidson in 1925. The fort was built in a scalene right quadrilateral pattern and was large enough to house both troops and cavalry.
The fort is likely to have been linked by roads to sites on the Antonine Wall and south at Castledykes but exactly how they were connected is a matter of ongoing study.
A Roman bath house was subsequently found between the fort and medieval bridge anachronistically named 'Roman Bridge'. The bath house, which was found in November 1973 beneath a pond, was moved to higher ground in 1980 and is now open to the public. The complete excavation was carried out in 1975-76 under the direction of Lawrence Keppie. The bath house was made up of: a Vestibule, a Frigidarium
A ''frigidarium'' is one of the three main bath chambers of a Roman bath or ''thermae'', namely the cold room. It often contains a swimming pool.
The succession of bathing activities in the ''thermae'' is not known with certainty, but it is tho ...
(cold room with cold plunge bath), a first and second Tepidarium
The ''tepidarium'' was the warm (''tepidus'') bathroom of the thermae, Roman baths heated by a hypocaust or underfloor heating system. The speciality of a ''tepidarium'' is the pleasant feeling of constant radiant heat, which directly affects the ...
(warm rooms), a Caldarium
image:Caldarium.JPG, 230px, ''Caldarium'' from the Roman baths at Bath, Somerset, Bath, England. The floor has been removed to reveal the empty space where the hot air flowed through to heat the floor.
A (also called a ''calidarium'', ''cella ca ...
(hot room with nearby hot bath), and a Praefurnium (furnace room). Perhaps around 20 soldiers at a time could use the bath house.
Hundreds of artifacts were taken from the excavations on the site to the Hunterian Museum
The Hunterian is a complex of museums located in and operated by the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest museum in Scotland. It covers the Hunterian Museum, the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Mackintosh House, the Zoology M ...
at Glasgow University
The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...
. These include a Roman drain cover slab, a hunt cup, and tile with a paw print. Pottery from the site has established an Antonine occupation but how the site relates to the Antonine Wall
The Antonine Wall () was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. Built some twenty years after Hadrian's Wall to the south ...
remains unclear. The full catalog of the finds is available along with many sketches.
The distance from the thermae (baths) to the fort suggests there are other, as yet undiscovered structures.
See also
* Bearsden Baths ''(Another nearby Roman site)''References
External links
{{Scotland during the Roman Empire Roman auxiliary forts in Scotland Scheduled monuments in North Lanarkshire History of North Lanarkshire Buildings and structures in Motherwell