Westerwood is an area in the north-east of

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; ) is a large town in the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, most-populous locality in Scotl ...

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. Historically it was the site of a Roman Fort of which a video reconstruction has been produced. In the past two decades, new housing developments have been built around the Westerwood Hotel and Golf Course. The golf course, which was designed by

Seve Ballesteros Severiano Ballesteros Sota (; 9 April 1957 – 7 May 2011) was a Spanish professional golfer, a World No. 1 who was one of the sport's leading figures from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. A member of a gifted golfing family, he won 90 inte ...

and Dave Thomas, is located on the north side of the town, close to Cumbernauld Airport. Westerwood Community Council was set up for local residents and a committee has been appointed. Neighbouring villages which are outside of Cumbernauld include Dullatur to the north-west and

Castlecary Castlecary () is a small historic village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, directly adjacent to the border with Falkirk Council, Falkirk. It has long been associated with infrastructure, being adjacent to Red Burn, a bridged river, a Castra, Roma ...

to the east. Pastinpresentwha00mitc orig 0265

Roman Heritage

Historically, Westerwood is the site of a Roman Fort on 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 ...

. Its neighbouring forts were Croy Hill to the west and

to the east. At Tollpark, is one of the best preserved continuous sections of the whole Wall, between the forts of Castlecary and Westerwood. There may have been a signal tower at Garnhall from where both Westerwood and Castlecary forts are likely to have been visible. A

kissing gate A kissing gate is a gate that allows people, but not livestock, to pass through. The normal construction is a half-round, rectangular, trapezoidal or V-shaped part-enclosure with the free end of a hinged gate trapped between its arms. When th ...

behind Castlecary Hotel provides access to this section of the wall to the east. Parking for the section of the wall to the west can be found at Dullatur or Croy. Many Roman forts along the wall held garrisons of around 500 men. Larger forts like

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. There is also likely to have been large communities of civilians around the site. Westerwood was excavated in 1932 by Sir George Macdonald who wrote about it. It was also excavated in 1974 and 1985-8. Finds near Westerwood include a distance slab depicting a sea-deity and a naked, tied, captive and an uninscribed altar which were found at Arniebog. The slab can now be viewed at 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 ...

in Glasgow. Other artefacts include a diamond patterned stone and a grey, buff jar. A religious stone showed a relief of an engorged

phallus A phallus (: phalli or phalluses) is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history, a figure with an erect penis is described as ''ithyphallic''. Any object that symbo ...

over the inscription EX VOTO "the result of a vow". It was found in 1725 but has since been lost. It had a second inscription: NVX "the night". Also a centurion called Verecundus, and his wife, dedicated an altar to Silvanus and the Sky which was recovered at Westerwood. Pottery found at Westerwood is unlike any other pottery found on the Antonine Wall. It has been suggested that the course pottery was made locally by a single potter at Westerwood.

References

{{Areas of Cumbernauld Areas of Cumbernauld Forts of the Antonine Wall Roman legionary fortresses in Scotland