Glenlochar 1 Temporary Camp

Marching or Temporary Camp

Temporary Camp north of the fort and measures 260m from WSW to ENE by 238m transversely, enclosing 6ha (almost 15 acres). No clear entrance gaps have been recorded. It intersects camps 3 and 4and therefore could not have been contemporary with either of these camps, and is extremely close to the perimeter of camp 2.

The temporary camp was one 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 some 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.

There is another suspected Roman marching camp a little to the south-east at Dalbeattie.

References for Glenlochar 1 Temporary Camp

  • 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 1 Temporary Camp

Probable Military Road: SW (11) to Gatehovse Of Fleet (Dumfries & Galloway) Probable Military Road: NE (20) to Dalswinton (Dumfries & Galloway)

Sites near Glenlochar 1 Temporary Camp