Cleddans

File:Hutcheson Hill from the air (geograph 4786933).jpg

Cleddans Roman fortlet was located by trial trenching in 1980{{Cite web|url=http://roman-britain.co.uk/places/cleddans.htm|title=CLEDDANS|last=White|first=Kevan|date=2016-02-07|website=roman-britain.co.uk|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-05-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415123125/http://roman-britain.co.uk/places/cleddans.htm|archive-date=2019-04-15|url-status=dead}} south of the main road between Duntocher and Bearsden.{{cite web |url=https://canmore.org.uk/site/search/result?NUMLINK=44555&view=map|title=Map of Cleddans|accessdate=2017-11-14 |last= |first= |work=CANMORE |publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland}} Hutcheson Hill being halfway between the known Roman forts of Duntocher to the west and Castlehill to the east and having a line of sight between them, it was surmised that it may hold the site of an intermediate fort.{{cite web|title=Cleddans|url=http://www.antoninewall.org/visiting-the-wall/things-to-see-and-do/site-by-site/cleddans|website=Frontiers of the Roman Empire|accessdate=14 November 2017}} This fortlet's discovery at Cleddans seemed to strengthen the proposal that the Antonine Wall was designed with fortlets around every mile as measured by the Romans.{{cite web|title=CLEDDANS: FORTLET|url=http://www.antoninewall.org/system/files/documents/Cleddans-%20Fortlet.pdf|website=Frontiers of the Roman Empire|accessdate=15 November 2017}} The fort discovered measures internally {{convert|18|m|ft}} east-west by {{convert|17.6|m|ft}} north-south within a rampart set on a {{convert|3.6|m|ft}} wide stone base.{{Cite web|url=https://canmore.org.uk/site/44555/cleddans|title=Cleddans {{!}} Canmore|website=canmore.org.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-05-01}}

File:View to Glasgow from Cleddans Road - geograph.org.uk - 890557.jpg

Cleddans was constructed between 142 and 154{{nbsp}}AD at the order of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius.Robertson, Anne S. (1960) The Antonine Wall. Glasgow Archaeological Society. {{ISBN|9780902018143}} p. 7. Quintus Lollius Urbicus, governor of Roman Britain at the time, initially supervised the effort. It was one of a string of forts and fortlets built to support the Antonine Wall; troop movement was facilitated by a road linking all the sites known as the Military Way. Antoninus Pius never visited Britain, whereas his predecessor Hadrian did. Pressure from the Caledonians may have led Antoninus to send the empire's troops further north. The wall, and Cleddans, was abandoned only eight years after completion, and the garrison relocated back to Hadrian's Wall. In 208 Emperor Septimius Severus re-established legions at the wall and ordered repairs; this has led to the wall being referred to as the Severan Wall. The occupation ended a few years later, and the wall was not occupied again.{{Cite book|title=The Antonine Wall|last=Breeze|first=David John |date=2006|publisher=John Donald|others=Historic Scotland.|isbn=9780859766555|location=Edinburgh|oclc=65469031}}

Most Roman fortlets along the wall held garrisons of around 500 men.{{cite web|title=Soldier|url=http://www.antoninewall.org/about-wall/living-wall/soldier|website=Frontiers of the Roman Empire|accessdate=21 October 2017}} Larger forts like Castlecary and Birrens had a nominal garrison of a cohort of 1,000 men{{cite book|last1=Miller|first1=S. N.|title=The Roman Occupation Of South Western Scotland Being Reports Of Excavations And Surveys Carried Out Under The Auspices Of The Glasgow Archaeological Society By John Clarke, J. M. Davidson, Anne S. Robertson, J. K. St. Joseph, Edited For The Society With An Historical Survey By S. N. Miller|date=1952|publisher=Robert Maclehose & Company Limited|location=Glasgow|url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.227248/2015.227248.The-Roman#page/n243/mode/2up/search/castlecary|accessdate=11 October 2017}} but there is evidence that they sheltered women and children{{cite web|title=Children|url=http://www.antoninewall.org/about-wall/living-wall/children|website=Frontiers of the Roman Empire|accessdate=21 October 2017}} as well, although the troops were not allowed to marry.{{cite web|title=Roman child's leather shoe|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/4s9CJ-9VSTCcpFR389U8MA|website=A History of the World|publisher=BBC|accessdate=17 October 2017}} It is likely that there were communities of civilians around the site.{{cite web|last1=Rohl|first1=Darrell, Jesse|title=More than a Roman Monument: A Place-centred Approach to the Long-term History and Archaeology of the Antonine Wall|url=http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/9458/1/DarrellRohl_PhDThesis_2014.pdf?DDD6+#page=245|website=Durham Theses|publisher=Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online ref: 9458|accessdate=14 October 2017}}

Finds from the site include three or four Roman tablets.{{cite web|title=Cleddans Antonine Wall Fortlet|url=http://roman-britain.co.uk/places/cleddans.htm|website=Roman Britain|accessdate=14 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812161800/http://roman-britain.co.uk/places/cleddans.htm|archive-date=12 August 2016|url-status=dead}} One shows a running boar, the emblem of the 20th legion. It was discovered in 1695 at Cochno House.{{cite web|title=OS 25 inch map 1892-1949, with Bing opacity slider|url=http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=55.9378&lon=-4.4139&layers=168&b=1|website=National Library of Scotland|publisher=Ordnance Survey|accessdate=12 October 2017}} The Hunterian Museum in Glasgow holds it as part of its collection.{{cite web|title=distance slab of the Twentieth Legion, recording the completion of ? feet|url=http://www.huntsearch.gla.ac.uk/cgi-bin/foxweb/huntsearch/DetailedResults.fwx?collection=all&SearchTerm=F.11&mdaCode=GLAHM|website=Hunterian Museum & Art Gallery Collections: GLAHM F.11|publisher=University of Glasgow|accessdate=14 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115014922/http://www.huntsearch.gla.ac.uk/cgi-bin/foxweb/huntsearch/DetailedResults.fwx?collection=all&SearchTerm=F.11&mdaCode=GLAHM|archive-date=15 November 2017|url-status=dead}}

A subsequent find was a panelled tablet discovered at Braidfield Farm in 1812, just west of Cleddans Farm.{{cite book|last1=Macdonald|first1=Sir George|title=The Roman wall in Scotland, by Sir George Macdonald|date=1934|publisher=The Clarendon press|oclc=457788157|location=Oxford|page=384|edition=2d ed., rev., enl., and in great part rewritten|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3760345;view=2up;seq=538|accessdate=11 October 2017}} It shows two winged Victories, each standing on a globe, holding up a rectangular inscription. On the left is an armed Mars and, on the right, Virtus is depicted with a sheathed sword and a military standard. There are two decorative pelta shields, one on either side of the slab. The inscription contains the words "Opus Valli": apparently the Romans' name for their wall. The slab also resides in the Hunterian Museum.{{cite web|title=RIB 2200. Distance Slab of the Sixth Legion|url=https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/2200|website=Roman Inscriptions of Britain|accessdate=14 November 2017}}

The last tablet found showed a palm tree and another running boar, the symbol of the 20th legion. It was discovered just south of the Antonine Wall on Hutcheson Hill in 1865. It was lost in a fire at Chicago in 1871.{{cite web|title=RIB 2198. Distance Slab of the Twentieth Legion|url=https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/2198|website=Roman Inscriptions of Britain|accessdate=14 November 2017}} The Hunterian has a plaster cast made from the original.{{cite web|title=distance slab of the Twentieth Legion, recording the completion of 3000 feet (plaster cast only; original lost)|url=http://www.huntsearch.gla.ac.uk/cgi-bin/foxweb/huntsearch/DetailedResults.fwx?collection=all&SearchTerm=F.8&mdaCode=GLAHM|website=Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery Collections|publisher=University of Glasgow|accessdate=14 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115082843/http://www.huntsearch.gla.ac.uk/cgi-bin/foxweb/huntsearch/DetailedResults.fwx?collection=all&SearchTerm=F.8&mdaCode=GLAHM|archive-date=15 November 2017|url-status=dead}} On either side of the tablet is a naked Cupid, each with a sickle in its inner hand and a bunch of grapes in its outer. Symmetry suggests the lower right rosette is missing. It is similar to another slab, often associated with Old Kilpatrick, which had its lower right rosette found on a separate fragment.

The three slabs hold building inscriptions from the Twentieth (two) and Sixth (one) Legions dedicated to the emperor Antoninus Pius. They have been dated to 139–161{{spaces}}AD.{{Cite web|url=http://roman-britain.co.uk/places/cleddans.htm|title=CLEDDANS|last=White|first=Kevan|date=2016-02-07|website=roman-britain.co.uk|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-05-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415123125/http://roman-britain.co.uk/places/cleddans.htm|archive-date=2019-04-15|url-status=dead}} No coins have been found at the site.{{Cite web|url=http://roman-britain.co.uk/places/cleddans.htm|title=CLEDDANS|last=White|first=Kevan|date=2016-02-07|website=roman-britain.co.uk|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-05-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415123125/http://roman-britain.co.uk/places/cleddans.htm|archive-date=2019-04-15|url-status=dead}}

A well-preserved fourth tablet (RIB 3507) was found on the west of Hutcheson Hill{{cite web|title=Hutcheson Hill|url=https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/sites/hutcheson-hill|website=Roman Inscriptions of Britain|accessdate=5 May 2018}} in March 1969 at Cleddans Farm.{{cite journal |last1=Steer |first1=K. A. |last2=Cormack |first2=E. A. |title=A New Roman Distance-slab from the Antonine Wall |journal=Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland |date=1968 |volume=101 |pages=122–126 |doi=10.9750/PSAS.101.122.126 |url=http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-352-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_101/101_122_126.pdf |accessdate=9 July 2018}}{{cite web|title=Hutcheson Hill|url=https://canmore.org.uk/site/44548/hutcheson-hill|website=Canmore|publisher=Historic Environment Scotland|accessdate=5 May 2018}} It is sometimes attributed to Castlehill.{{cite web|title=Castle Hill Antonine Wall Fort|url=http://roman-britain.co.uk/places/castle_hill.htm|website=Roman Britain|accessdate=5 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524113528/http://roman-britain.co.uk/places/castle_hill.htm|archive-date=24 May 2018|url-status=dead}} It has been scanned and a video produced.{{cite web|title=Distance slab of the Twentieth Legion, Castlehill|url=https://vimeo.com/129135964|accessdate=14 November 2017}} Photos are available for educational and research use.{{cite web|title=Antonine Wall Distance Slab, Legion Xx (Image 3404)|url=http://www.romansociety.org/imago/searching-saving/show/893.html|website=Imago|publisher=The Roman Society Centenary Image Bank|accessdate=5 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180506040530/http://www.romansociety.org/imago/searching-saving/show/893.html|archive-date=6 May 2018|url-status=dead}} Its depiction of subdued natives is similar to the slabs at Bridgeness and Westerwood. Other symbols like the jumping boar require more knowledge.{{cite web|title=Roman slab of the Twentieth Legion|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/NY-m9_ONQIqNdXH_W1O5og|website=A History of the World|publisher=BBC|accessdate=5 May 2018}} Who the female figure depicts is uncertain; Victoria, Britannia, and Faustina the Elder have been proposed.{{cite news |last1=Flatman |first1=Joe |title=Excavating the CA archive: cover photos from the first 100 issues |url=https://www.archaeology.co.uk/articles/excavating-the-ca-archive-cover-photos-from-the-first-100-issues.htm |accessdate=21 December 2018 |agency=Current Archaeology |issue=346 |date=6 December 2018}}

Sir George Macdonald wrote about the site in the 1911 first edition and 1934 second edition of The Roman wall in Scotland.{{cite book|last1=Macdonald|first1=Sir George|title=The Roman wall in Scotland, by Sir George Macdonald|date=1934|publisher=The Clarendon press|location=Oxford|pages=172–174|edition=2d ed., rev., enl., and in great part rewritten|oclc=457788157|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3760345;view=2up;seq=252|accessdate=11 October 2017}}

Image:Romanwallinscotl00macduoft raw 0365no2.png|RIB 2206. Distance Slab of the Twentieth Legion Valeria Victrix{{cite web|title=RIB 2206. Distance Slab of the Twentieth Legion|url=https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/2206|website=Roman Inscriptions of Britain|accessdate=18 November 2017}} It was found towards the west of the wall and is often associated with Old Kilpatrick. George MacDonald calls in no. 16 in the 2nd edition of his book The Roman Wall in Scotland.{{cite book|last1=Macdonald|first1=Sir George|title=The Roman wall in Scotland, by Sir George Macdonald|date=1934|publisher=The Clarendon press|location=Oxford|page=390|edition=2d ed., rev., enl., and in great part rewritten|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3760345;view=2up;seq=554;size=200|accessdate=11 October 2017}}

Image:Romanwallinscotl00macduoft raw 0377Hutcheson.png|RIB 2198. Distance Slab of the Twentieth Legion{{cite web|title=RIB 2198. Distance Slab of the Twentieth Legion Valeria Victrix|url=https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/2198|website=Roman Inscriptions of Britain|accessdate=18 November 2017}} It was found near Cleddans. George MacDonald calls in no. 10 in the 2nd edition of his book The Roman Wall in Scotland.{{cite book|last1=Macdonald|first1=Sir George|title=The Roman wall in Scotland, by Sir George Macdonald|date=1934|publisher=The Clarendon press|location=Oxford|pages=383–384|edition=2d ed., rev., enl., and in great part rewritten|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3760345;view=2up;seq=538;size=200|accessdate=11 October 2017}} It was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire.

File:Romanwallinscotl00macduoft raw 0371Cochno.png|RIB 2199. Distance Slab of the Twentieth Legion Valeria Victrix{{cite web|title=RIB 2199. Distance Slab of the Sixth Legion|url=https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/2199|website=Roman Inscriptions of Britain|accessdate=18 November 2017}} George MacDonald calls in no. 13 in the 2nd edition of his book The Roman Wall in Scotland.{{cite book|last1=Macdonald|first1=Sir George|title=The Roman wall in Scotland, by Sir George Macdonald|date=1934|publisher=The Clarendon press|location=Oxford|page=387|edition=2d ed., rev., enl., and in great part rewritten|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3760345;view=2up;seq=544;size=200|accessdate=11 October 2017}} It may have been a "waster" and lacks distance data. It has been scanned and a video produced.{{cite web|title=Distance slab of the 20th Legion, Cochno Estate, Duntocher|date=30 March 2017 |url=https://vimeo.com/210769022|accessdate=14 November 2017}}

File:Romanwallinscotl00macduoft raw 0371Braidfield.png|upright=2|RIB 2200. Distance Slab of the Sixth Legion{{cite web|title=RIB 2200. Distance Slab of the Sixth Legion|url=https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/2200|website=Roman Inscriptions of Britain|accessdate=18 November 2017}} George MacDonald calls in no. 11 in the 2nd edition of his book The Roman Wall in Scotland.{{cite book|last1=Macdonald|first1=Sir George|title=The Roman wall in Scotland, by Sir George Macdonald|date=1934|publisher=The Clarendon press|location=Oxford|pages=384–386|edition=2d ed., rev., enl., and in great part rewritten|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3760345;view=2up;seq=538;size=200|accessdate=11 October 2017}} It was found at Braidfield Farm which is between Cleddans and Duntocher.{{cite web|title=OS 25 inch map 1892-1949, with Bing opacity slider|url=http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=55.9219&lon=-4.3961&layers=168&b=1|website=National Library of Scotland|publisher=Ordnance Survey|accessdate=12 October 2017}} It has been scanned and a video produced.{{cite web|title=Distance Slab of the Sixth Legion, Duntocher|date=28 May 2015 |url=https://vimeo.com/129135898|accessdate=14 November 2017}}

File:Antonine.Wall.Roman.forts.jpg from west to east: Bishopton, Old Kilpatrick, Duntocher, Cleddans, Castlehill, Bearsden, Summerston, Balmuildy, Wilderness Plantation, Cadder, Glasgow Bridge, Kirkintilloch, Auchendavy, Bar Hill, Croy Hill, Westerwood, Castlecary, Seabegs, Rough Castle, Camelon, Watling Lodge, Falkirk, Mumrills, Inveravon, Kinneil, Carriden]]

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Category:Forts of the Antonine Wall

Category:History of East Dunbartonshire