This fort is easily reached by a tarmac canal walk from Kirkintilloch (I cycled but some walking required). I was impressed at the small bits of Antonine wall/fort still left in the forest but this impression is comparative to “nothing-at-all” found elsewhere. I was able to cycle the route of the wall towards Kirkintilloch and understand how the geography of the landscape was used. The fort was built by the Second Legion Augusta.
Visit Cadder Roman Fort
📍 Location: Cadder, near Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire
👁 What survives: Small traces of the Antonine Wall and fort landscape can still be appreciated, especially along the canal-side route.
⭐ Best for: Combining a quiet Antonine Wall walk with subtle surviving frontier archaeology.
🥾 Visit: A mostly level canal-side approach, with woodland and potentially muddy ground around the archaeology.
🏛 Nearby Roman places: Kirkintilloch, Balmuildy and Bearsden
Cadder at a glance
| Occupation | Antonine period, broadly the AD 140s–160s; exact opening and closing years remain uncertain. |
| Garrison | Unknown. |
| Size | About 1.12 hectares (2.8 acres) internally. |
| Troop estimate | No secure numerical estimate is established here; fort area alone cannot determine the number present. |
Inscriptions
RIB 2188 associates the Second Legion Augusta with construction; it does not securely identify the operational garrison.
Sources for this summary
I took some photos on a very wet and dull day.
References
- Cadder (Historic Environment Scotland Canmore record)
- Cadder ( The Antonine Wall webpage)
- Cadder Roman Fort ( Roman Britain)
- Cadder Roman fort (Roman Inscriptions of Britain)
Explore finds in video and 3D
Open an item below to play its short video or explore its interactive 3D model. Titles retain the publishers’ findspot labels; nearby discoveries need not have come from inside the fort. Videos are from the Antonine Wall Vimeo Account; interactive models are by Historic Environment Scotland.
Oil Lamp, Cadder · Video, 20 seconds
20 seconds · Oil Lamp, Cadder · Antonine Wall Vimeo Account
Oil Lamp, Cadder, Antonine Wall · Open on Sketchfab
Interactive 3D model by Historic Environment Scotland. Open the model on Sketchfab to rotate, zoom and examine the object.
