OS1/32/11/54

List of names as written Various modes of spelling Authorities for spelling Situation Description remarks
Roman Fort Continued [continued from page 53]
"of rubbish." ****
"Two of those stations are in the shire of Stirling; one of which is called Castlecary, the other Roughcastle.
Castlecary, which is the largest and most entire, is situated four miles westward from the town of Falkirk, and just upon the borders of Stirlingshire, where it joins to that of Dumbarton; it stands upon high ground, as those stations generally do, and commands an extensive prospect to the north and east; it comprehends several acres of ground, is of a square form, and surrounded with a wall of stone and mortar. The whole space within the walls has been occupied by buildings, the ruins of which, having raised the earth eight or ten feet above its natural surface, have given to the fort the resemblance of a hill-top, surrounded with a sunk fence; the rubbish above the stones have often been ploughed and yields tolerable crops except about the middle, where it is all overgrown with nut bushes and briars."
"In 1770, workmen were employed to search amongst the ruins for stones for the use of the great canal, which passes near it. Having removed the rubbish, they discovered sundry apartments built with stone and lime, and, in one of them, a number of stones standing erect, and about two feet in length, with plain marks of fire upon them. They appeared as having been designed to support some sort of vessel under which fire was put; but, whether the place had been once a Roman balneum, or what particular purpose it had served, we do not pretend to determine - The Editor supposes it to have been a bath - In the middle of the station, when the proetorium stood, large ruins were also discovered , but the men, not finding stones for their purpose, soon gave over digging."
"The outer wall of the fort hath been surrounded with a double ditch, or vallum, which is still filled with water upon the south side, where the entry hath been by a large causeway intersecting the ditch. Upon the west is a steep descent into a glen, through which a rivulet runs; and on the north, lies a low and barren muir, where is a free stone quarry, out of which the stones of the fort have been digged, as appears from their being of the same grain. In August 1771, as workmen were quarrying stones in that muir for the use of the canal, they came upon a large hollow in the rock, in which they found a considerable quantity of wheat, as also some iron wedges, and hammers, supposed to be Roman. Whether the wheat
[continued on page 55]

Continued entries/extra info

[Page] 54

Parish of Falkirk

  Transcribers who have contributed to this page.

Alison James- Moderator, Brenda Pollock

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