Kincladie Wood Temporary Camp

First mentioned in 1723 by an anonymous Scottish antiquarian, first suspected of Roman origins by O.G.S. Crawford in 1949, and confirmed from the air by J.K. St. Joseph in 1969, almost the entire circuit of this very large camp has been traced or may be conjectured. Its plan is almost square, the south-east corner lies beneath a housing-estate on the outskirts of Dunning, the majority of the south side lies obscured beneath trees, and much of the east side is overlain by a road which nevertheless preserves its line. A long section of the northern rampart is preserved within Kincladie Wood, along with a small portion of the titulum defensive outwork which once protected a gateway in the western sector of this side, now mostly destroyed by the modern road. There is a gateway with titulum in the southern rampart opposite that on the edge of the woods to the north, also two more, placed centrally in the west and east defences, that on the east being fronted by a traverse or titulum. There is no evidence for the suspected second (eastern) gateways in the north and south sides, neither for a central gate in the east side, all archaeology being obscured by modern roads or trees. The defensive ditch at the west gateway was examined in 1992 and found to be about 11½ ft. wide by just under 5 ft. deep (3.5 x 1.5 m). This camp is remarkably similar in size and shape to the camp at Carey, Abernethy, only 10 miles to the east.

References for Kincladie Wood, Dunning

  • Britannia I 1970 p.274;
  • Air Reconnaissance in Britain, 1969-72 by J.K. St. Joseph in J.R.S. lxiii (1973) pp.218/9 & fig.10;
  • Air Reconnaissance in Britain, 1973-76 by J.K. St. Joseph in J.R.S. lxvii (1977) p.140;
  • Britannia xx (1989) pp.269/70; Britannia xxv (1993) pp.277/8 & figs.5/6;
  • Britannia xxix (1998) p.376.

Map References for Kincladie Wood, Dunning

NGRef: NO023152 OSMap: LR58

OS National Grid Reference: NO025148
Dimensions: c.2,300 x 2,200 ft (c.700 x 670 m)
Area: c.116¼ acres (c.47 ha)

Roman Roads near Kincladie Wood, Dunning

None identified

Sites near Kincladie Wood Temporary Camp