Day three

Next morning, it was up and onto the bus for visits to the east end of the Antonine Wall ... a 30+ mile stretch of turf rampart and ditch running from the Firth of Forth in the East to the Firth of Clyde in the West, established during the second phase of Roman occupation inScotland.

Our first stop was Kinneil Park where the outlines of a wall fortlet could be seen just west of Kinneil House. The familiar impact of plow agriculture on Roman fortifications was evident: the ditch was all but invisible. A nearby small, but pleasant, museum on the Park property was a good balance with the walk to the fortlet location. Next, further west, was the housing development of Callendar Park (associated with Callendar House just to the south) which has a stretch of the Antonine ditching in good condition and showing evidence of counterscarping and the military road that ran parallel behind the ditch. Onwards then to Watling Lodge, a relatively short but dramatic stretch of the Antonine Wall ditch (12 m wide and 4.5m deep) that gives some sense of the massive undertaking and impressive appearance of the functioning Antonine Wall.

A nearby Roman fortlet was covered by both medieval and modern buildings.

Rough Castle was the location of both a major wall fort (1 acre) as well as the remains of a significant stretch of the ditch. Noteworthy was the presence of excavated /lilia/ (pit defences) on the north side of the ditch. We had our lunch here in slightly windy conditions but it was a great treat to actually spend time on the site. The only other visitors were dog-walkers. And yet the main railway between Edinburgh and Glasgow runs just south of the site. To me, Rough Castle would make an ideal location for a museum and railway stop ... the opportunity to draw tourists from Edinburgh and Glasgow with a combination rail & museum experience and a chance to promote the Antonine Wall in a way that Hadrian's Wall nowreceives.

Afterwards, the tour made a brief stop at Seabegs Wood where a stretch of ditching was less well preserved but the Roman military road behind it was clearly evident. As a final stop of the day, we hiked up to the top of Bar Hill where the outline of one of the major wall forts and associated bath house gave something of the feel of English Heritage sites far to the south. The view west across the Kelvin River valley was gorgeous despitea bit of threatened rain at times.

Again, we were virtually alone at the site apart from a team of people who'd just finished mowing the grass. We returned to Edinburgh for thenight.