stirling-1963-vol-1/05_131

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No. 111 -- ROMAN MONUMENTS -- No. 112
at one or two points in sections cut by watercourses, and
a number of stones dislodged from the foundations of
the road are lying loose on the surface.

NS 77 NE, NS 87 NW, NS 87 NE, NS 88 SW, NS 97 NW
7 to 14 November 1956

[Plan Inserted]
By courtesy of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland

Fig. 32. The Antonine Wall (No. 111); plan of
Bonnyside East Expansion

112. Roman Fort, Mumrills (Site). No structural
remains of the Roman fort at Mumrills can be seen on
the surface of the ground at the present time, but a great
deal has been learned about it from extensive excavations
directed by Macdonald during the years 1923-8, and
also from an emergency excavation conducted by the
Commission in 1958 in association with the
Ancient Monuments Inspectorate of the
Ministry of Works. ¹ The site lies on a lofty
plateau on the eastern outskirts of Laurieston,
less than a quarter of a mile W. of the
point where the Antonine Wall crossed the
Westquarter Burn. Apart from the W. side,
where the approach to the site is almost level,
the position is a strong one, being protected
by steep scarps on the S. and E. and by the
low-lying land of the Carse to the N. As far
as is known, Mumrills is the largest of the
stations on the Antonine Wall, and, in order
to accommodate it on the plateau to the best
possible advantage, a pronounced local devia-
tion has been introduced in the line of the
Wall as shown on Fig. 33.

THE FORT (Fig. 34). Although the defences
have been partly destroyed by modern roads,
Macdonald was able to establish that the
fort had been oblong on plan and enclosed
an area of over 6 1/2 acres, the internal dimen-
sions being about 557 ft. from E. to W. by
about 492 ft. from N. to S. The size of the
fort suggests that it was originally designed
for a cavalry regiment, the Ala I Tungrorum,
which has left an inscription in the neigh-
bourhood (see below), although an infantry
regiment, the Cohors II Thracum, is also
associated with the site. The two southern
corners of the fort were rounded while the
northern corners, which abutted on to the
Antonine Wall, were square. The rampart
was built of clay resting on a stone foundation
and measured 15 ft. in thickness on the N.,
and from 12 ft. 6 in. to 13 ft. on the other
three sides. Immediately in front of it there
were two ditches to the E., one to the S. and
four to the W., while the Ditch of the
Antonine Wall formed the outer defence on
the N. side, where however it was not much
more than half its normal width. The arrange-
ment of the four gates shows that the fort
faced N., but no remains of the gates them-
selves survived; it was thought that those on
the E. and W. had been arched with stone
and that in the other two cases the frame-
work had been of timber. Within the fort the
plans of five stone buildings were recovered

1 Macdonald's report is in P.S.A.S., lxiii (1928-
1929), 396-575, and the subsequent excavation
will be described in a forthcoming number of
P.S.A.S.

-- 96

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