Castledykes
Field Walkings / Surveying
Roman Road
To Cleghorn
Roman Road
To Kilncadzow
Roman Fort
Carnwath
Roman Road
To Carluke
Roman Camp
In the grounds of Monteith House
Hill of Kilncadzow
Roman Site
Castledykes
Field Walking / Surveying
The permanent fort at Castledykes is one of
several Roman forts in the immediate vicinity
of Corbiehall Farm. The temporary camps
date back to the invasion of Scotland by
Agricola and stretch at least into the Antonine
Period late 2nd century A.D. However it is
very unusual to find anything on the site of a
marching camp.
The investigations by a number of people over
the years have concentrated on the permanent
fort built in the late first century A.D and certainly reoccupied during the Antonine period
up to c.180 A.D There were excavations in the
1950s which were published by the late Professor Anne Robertson in 1964.These however
were limited in their scope and much of the
story of the fort still needs to be told. This is
apparent from discoveries made in the past 30
years, especially through aerial photography
which revealed a complex of enclosures due
east of the fort; these have been regularly fieldwalked.
Part of the ramparts survive in the planted
area in the centre of the fort, likewise they
have also been identified in the fields either
side of the fort, but they are worn down by
the ploughing. No buildings are surviving
above ground though some structures were
found by Professor Robertson and by recent
resistivity surveys.
During the process of the fiedwalking done
by the volunteers a number of interesting
items were found in the fields around the fort
including a silver denarius of the emperor
'l'rajan dating to 100 A.D , several items in
bronze including a brooch, glass beads and
pottery including Samian Ware from Roman
France and Amphora from Spain.
Comment
Archaeological excavation would not be permitted, but fieldwalking is allowed under the
direction of the Lanark and District Archaeological Society. Apart from the fieldwalking,
resistivity surveys need to be done in the
vicinity of the fort with a view to discovering
the site of the bath house. A 7.2 acre site castle
would have a garrison of between 300 - 450
men and there would be a bath house, but
nobody has found this.
Roman Road
To Kilncadzow
The line of the Roman Road from
Cleghorn to Kilncadzow goes alongside
Cleghorn wood and through the grounds of
Collielaw
Farm.
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J.M Davidson in the pre-war period which
revealed a good cross section of the road with
its curb stones. A similar cut was done by the
Lanark and District Archaeological Society, but
the road section revealed by them did not have
the large kerb stones surviving.
Comment
Some of the road line could be investigated
from Cleghorn to the site of the temporary
camp at Kilncadzow using a resistivity meter;
this would be particularly valuable near the
River Mouse.
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Roman Fort
Carnwath Roman Fort
This site lies to the south of the manse in
Carnwath and appeared on an aerial photograph in the possession of the Royal Commission. On the last visit to the commission the
picture seemed to be missing. The picture
shows the outline of the camp which is shaped
like a playing card covering a space of approximately 8 acres. Quite what its function would
be is difficult to guess.
Comment
A resistivity survey might be the quickest way
of resolving this question, but even this might
not be successful because the area is now
largely covered by housing, much of it recent.
The only area might be the glebe lands to the
south of the modern manse.
Roman Road
To Carluke
The line of the Roman Road to Carluke is
taken from Kilncadzow past Callagreen thence
to Yielshields and then is lost at Honeybank.
No distinct features have been observed.
Comment
Areas that could be investigated by resistivity
surveys would be those areas where the modern
road deviates from the alignment of the Roman
road. Croftfoot near Yieldshields would be an
ideal area for investigation whereas at the
Honeybank end of the known road there were
extensive mine workings up to the mid
twentieth century.
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Roman Camp
In the grounds of Monteith House
This site was identified from the air by
RCAHM in 1983. It lies near the river Clyde
south of Montieth House, currently an old
people's home. From the aerial photographs,
it is reckoned to be about 30 acres (12.3 Ha)
in extent and lies parallel to the Roman road
which runs from Castledykes over to
Bankhead Farm.
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The features visible from the air include two of
the northern gates and another along the
eastern flank of the fort. '1 hese gates were protected by a feature called a `titulus' - a bank
earth placed in front of the entrance. This was
designed to stop sudden attacks on the camp.
The fort site has never been excavated but the
`tituli' feature is thought to put the fort into
the Antonine era. There are two periods when
marching camps were likely to be built - the
period when the Antonine Wall was being
constructed c. 138 A.D or the period subsequent to the suppression of the Brigantes in
166 A.D.
Walking over the site did not produce any
further evidence nor indeed are any features
visible. The only thing that was looked by the
team was the mausoleum built by the Fullerton
family in the 18th century. 'I hey owned the
Montieth / Carstairs House estate prior to the
Montieths who purchased it in the early 19th
century.
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Comment
The site would merit an examination using the
latest type of resistivity meter to get a better idea
of the features. Excavation of the site would not
be very profitable as Roman Temporary Camps
rarely yield up much in the way of dateable
artefacts.
Hill of Kilncadzow
Roman Site
There is a tradition that there is a Roman Fort
on Kilncadzow Law; this makes sense as there is a
fine view over the surrounding country side and,
strategically, it would be the logical place to put a
fort. The location is 1050 feet above sea level and
stands out well above the surrounding
countryside. The second reason is that the Roman
road runs at the base of Kilncadzow Law heading
in the direction of Carluke.
A visit to the site revealed nothing that could
be assigned to the Roman period, thus the jury
is still out on this site.
Comment
It would be difficult to prove whether there
was a Roman fort on Kilncadzow Law without
a great deal of effort. Both excavation and
resistivity meter work would reveal what is or is
not there, but it would be a big shot in the
dark. Fieldwork could only point to whether
the Romans were in the vicinity and there is no
cultivable land nearby which could be fruitfully
searched.
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