Inchtuthil
The Legionary Fortress at Inchtuthil was built by founded by Agricola soon after AD 83 and systematically demolished soon after AD 86.
The defences comprise a single ditch, 20′ wide by 6 1/2′ deep, and a turf rampart, now 13′ wide but cut back to receive a stone wall 5′ thick. The wall encloses an area of 1,520′ by 1,565′, or 53 acres. The gateways were of timber, with twin portals recessed between two towers 20′ square.
Internal buildings comprise the headquarters, officer’s houses, 64 barracks, 6 granaries, store sheds, military hospital, drill hall and construction shop. Not all the buildings, however, had been built before the fortress was deliberately dismantled, following the transfer of Legio II Adiutrix to the Danube frontier.
Other visible Roman remains comprise the redoubt and a linear earthwork (the western vallum) W of the fortress is the site of a ‘labour camp’, almost as large as the fortress, which was occupied during the construction of the latter, and gradually reduced in size as the work progressed. There was yet another temporary camp towards the SW tip of the plateau and an extra-mural senior officers’ temporary compound on the SE angle of the fortress.
Inchtuthil was excavated by Abercromby in 1901, and by Richmond and St Joseph between 1952 and 1965.
References
- Inchtuthil | Canmore
- Inchtuthil SCRAN learning resource
- BBC Two – Scotland: Rome’s Final Frontier, Inchtuthil – animation
- Inchtuthil From Wikipedia
- Inchtuthil Roman Fortress (Roman Britain)
