Skulferatu #80 - Durisdeer Roman Fortlet, Durisdeer, Dumfries and Galloway

On a misty morning I took a walk from Durisdeer up a path through the nearby hills.  It was a nice, dry path with a lovely and well-kept dry stane dyke running alongside it and a signpost that told me I was two miles away from a place I’d never heard of.  Let’s walk there I thought.  It’s probably some pretty village...maybe I can get a nice cup of tea there.  So, off I wandered up a path that gradually got steeper.  Not massively steep, but steep enough for a fat, sweaty old man like myself.   I huffed and I puffed my way up, the humidity of the day taking its toll on me and the armpits of my shirt.  Eventually I arrived at my destination, finding nothing there other than an old hut collapsing into the marshy ground, some stone wall sheep pens, and a sign by a path across the wall, pointing back down the hill.  This signpost informed me that I was a mile away from a Roman Fortlet.  Well, as it was on my way back down the hill, I thought I’d follow the path and go there to have a look.

 

Durisdeer Roman Fortlet

 

Durisdeer Roman Fortlet

 

I started off and could very soon see the mound that the Fortlet had once stood on.  Now you would think that when something is in your view that you couldn’t really get lost walking to it, well you haven’t met me then.  I am the man who on his first trip to Paris, went looking for the Eiffel Tower and managed to walk past it three times.  I was too busy looking down at the map I was using to notice that I was right across from it.  Then I looked up and had one of those ‘oh’ moments.  So, as I walked down to the Fortlet, I somehow managed to veer from the path leading there and ended up walking down a dry stream bed that led me into a marshy, boggy patch of ground.  I could only find my way out of this by following the sheep trails.  Luckily, they seem to prefer the dryer ground.  Unluckily, they never take the direct route anywhere.  Anyway, after walking this way and that way, I eventually got back on to the path again and made my way to the Fortlet.

 

View down the valley to the Roman Fortlet

 

The Roman Fortlet

 

The Fortlet is described as one of the best preserved in Britain, though to be honest all I could really see was a mound with some slightly different coloured vegetation on it.  But still, it was weird to think that a couple of thousand years ago this was one of the outposts of the Roman Empire.  Hundreds of pairs of sandalled feet must have marched up here, probably following the road rather than wandering off into the marsh and bog like me.  On this damp mound there had been buildings where people had worked, eaten, slept and kept a careful eye out on what the locals were getting up to.  Now, just a few sheep stood around munching on the vegetation, and keeping a wary eye on me.

 

On the site of the Roman Fortlet

 

View down through the hills from the Roman Fortlet

 

Wary sheep keep watch at the Roman Fortlet

 

The Fortlet is believed to have been built during the Antonine period, sometime around AD 142.  It was one of many built along the road that once ran along past it.  The Fortlet would have housed a detachment of soldiers from a larger fort, who were stationed in these smaller forts where they could more easily deal with, and control, the local population.

 

The Fortlet was built on a mound and surrounded by a protective ditch. Excavations carried out on the mound revealed that there had been some wooden buildings there.  These are believed to have been the barracks for the soldiers based at the Fortlet.

 

Plan of Roman Fortlet near Durisdeer

 

Watched by some sheep, I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me on my walk in amongst the small marsh plants growing where the Fortlet would have once stood.

 

Skulferatu #80

 

Skulferatu #80 in amongst the marsh plants

 

Map showing location of Skulferatu #80

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 55.325558

Longitude -3.731063

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I used the following sources for information on Durisdeer Roman Fortlet -

 

The Roman Occupation Of South Western Scotland

By John Clarke, J.M. Davidson, Anne S. Robertson & J.K. St Joseph

1937

 

Canmore

Canmore - Durisdeer Roman Fortlet

 

Article and photographs are copyright of © Kevin Nosferatu, unless otherwise specified.