On the western edges of Falkirk can be found one of the best-preserved stretches of the Antonine Wall, the mid 2nd Century Roman frontier which once snaked its way across central Scotland.
The Antonine Wall at Watling Lodge
The most striking part of the frontier was the huge ditch, which is particularly wide and deep here. The remains of the turf rampart which once lay to the south of this ditch, possibly surmounted by a wooden palisade, can just be seen in the photograph above.
The fact that a Victorian house, the eponymous Watling Lodge, has been dropped right in the centre of the ditch is sadly typical of the destruction of the monument in more recent times.
A Victorian building in the ditch of the Antonine Wall at Watling Lodge
The ditch emerges again at the other side of the house, and winds it way down the hill towards the nearby fort of Rough Castle. Evidence of a fortlet which protected the spot where the main Roman road crossed through the wall towards the outpost fort at Camelon was also discovered near Watling Lodge, although no visible signs of it can be seen now.
The ditch of the Antonine Wall emerging from the other side of Watling Lodge
Find out more about visiting the Antonine Wall at Watling Lodge here.
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