Drumquhassle was 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 ...

associated with the

Gask Ridge The Gask Ridge is the modern name given to an early series of Castra, fortifications, built by the Roman Empire, Romans in Scotland, close to the Highland Boundary Fault, Highland Line. Modern excavation and interpretation has been pioneered by ...

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 was found from aerial photography in the late 1970s. The name selected for the fort deliberately made it hard for English born readers to pronounce. The fort was from the Flavian period; it was built and briefly occupied during the administration of

Sallustius Lucullus Sallustius Lucullus (possibly died 89 or 93 AD) was a governor of Roman Britain during the late 1st century AD, holding office after Gnaeus Julius Agricola, although it is unclear whether he was the immediate successor or if there was another unkno ...

. It is known as a "Glen-blocker" fort and is located within sight of

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; ) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault (HBF), often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands.Tom Weir. ''The Scottish Lochs''. pp. 33-43. Published by ...

Location

The fort is located in

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. It borders Perthshir ...

, east of

Drymen Drymen (; from ) is a village in the Stirling district of central Scotland. Once a popular stopping place for cattle drovers, it is now favored by visiting tourists given its location near Loch Lomond. The village is centred around a village gr ...

. It is associated with the road running from Loudoun Hill past Barochan towards Malling, Bochastle and Dalginross. This road was therefore on the Highland Boundary Fault Frontier. It may have been on more than one Roman road. It has been suggested that Drumquhassle might be connected to

Doune Doune (; from Scottish Gaelic: , meaning 'the fort') is a burgh within Perthshire. The town is administered by Stirling Council. Doune is assigned Falkirk postcodes starting "FK". The village lies within the parish of Kilmadock and mainly with ...

via the Fords of Frew. The glenblocker forts ran from Drumquhassle to Stracathro. The fort is about 50 m west of a reliable spring which was presumably the soldiers' main water source.

Finds

An enamelled brooch was found as well as some sling bullets. Pottery from Gaul known as Terra Nigra was also recovered. Several coins were also found.

References

{{coord, 56.0561, -4.43557, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Gask Ridge installations