Glenlochar 3 & 4 Temporary Camps

Marching or Temporary Camp

Glenlochar 3 & 4 Temporary Camps are the camps northeast of the fort. Glenlochar 3 lies to the north of Glenlochar Camp 1, and intersects both this camp and Glenlochar 4, although the relationship between the three is unknown. Only parts of two sides have been recorded, at least 150m of the WSW side, a rounded southern corner angle and at least 85m of the SSE side. Visible in the interior of the camp is a ring-ditch, which is possibly the remains of a Roman tower.

Glenlochar 4 lies to the west of Glenlochar 3. Only parts of two sides of this camp are known, intersecting camps 1 and 3, and running parallel just inside the NNW side of camp 1.

These temporary camps were part of the Glenlochar Temporary Camps. They probably represented a build up of Roman military in preparation for campaigns conducted against the Novantae tribe of the Galloway Peninsula, possibly during the fifth campaign season of governor Agricola c.a.d.81.

As they overlap one another and could not have been contemporary, they probably date to multiple Roman incursions in both the phases of campaigning in the 1st century as well as in the 2nd, and probably housed troops “on the march” in south-west Scotland.

It is possible that at least one of these camps was also constructed during the Antonine period, at the same time the nearby fort underwent reconstruction.

References for Glenlochar Camps

  • Air Reconnaissance of North Britain by J.K. St. Joseph in J.R.S. xli (1951) pp.60-1;
  • Air Reconnaissance in Britain, 1961-64 by J.K. St. Joseph in J.R.S. lv (1965) pp.79/80.
  • https://canmore.org.uk/site/64696/glenlochar

Roman Roads near Glenlochar Camps

Possible Road: NE (20) to Dalswinton (Dumfries & Galloway)

Sites near Glenlochar 3 & 4 Temporary Camps