[Maitland]

Ardoch Roman Fort is one of the best preserved Camps in the Roman Empire.

There are no signs to this camp on any of the roads leading into this area and on the wall leading into the camp is a very faded sign that is in need of repair.

I have to say that I am happy with this as the influx of tourists would go someway to destroying this ancient symbol of Scotlands past.

If you look at the photograph of the Camp (To be added later) you will see a square shape just off centre in the middle of the camp. There is a wee story here. It is said that the local Laird found a tunnel to the south of this square. He took two condemned men and sent one down, it would appear that the first man brought out of the tunnel some Roman Armour but on being sent down the second time was killed by foul air. The second man was sent down and never seen again.

The rumour is is that this man went through the tunnel that went under the River Knaik and came out at the back of Ardoch Way in Grinnan Hill Fort (an Ancient Iron Age Fort) and made good his escape. The rumour is that there are treasures still in this tunnel.

The local farmer at a later date blocked this tunnel with a massive stone and the entrance to it has been lost through time.

I will try and find the original account from the statistics of Perthshire and give you a full account of what it said, I hope what I have written is not too far from the truth but over time I have forgotten the content of the text.

I believe from time to time there are small items still found on the camp of Roman origin and it is the continual burrowing by the local rabbits that unearths some of these artifacts.

M...

[Mike]

And here's the image, as promised -

[Maitland]

Thanks for that Mike.

The Road that runs to the top of the image is the road that runs through the village. The river that you can see is the River Knaik.

I used to walk Brambles around here regularly in her older age as it wasn't too far for her and was relatively flat. Wallace I did take up for a wee while when he was a pup but the amount or rabbits he used to bring back to me was ridiculous and not having mastered the art of killing these poor wee things it ended up down to me and although I can do it, I really disliked it.

The ridges you can see are the remnants of the ramparts. These were slowly being eroded by the rabbits and a couple of years ago they culled just about all of them. However rabbits being rabbits and the population has once again picked up.

There was a historical dig here in the late 1890's (I have pictures somewhere) that discovered different phases of the occupation. I will try and find the link to the information on this Roman site and post it later on during the day.

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[Karen]

So much history. Thanks for all the info Maitland.

[Maitland]

No problem Milady.

Here is a link that will supply far more information than I will be able to.

NMRS Collection Details

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[Maitland]

I found this reference on the internet regarding the treasure that supposedly lies between The Roman Camp and Grinnin Hill Fort (at the back of my house).

Popular Rhymes of Scotland - Google Book Search

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[Mike]

Neat find!

[Maitland]

I also found a diagram and notes regarding Grinnan Hill Fort that I had never seen before. I am still trying to work out the orientation.

My Dad was kind enough to buy me a Nikon D50 the other day as I had happened to mention that my wee camera was pretty naff, so I may get out and take some recent photographs of the earthworks over the next couple of days and get them onto the site.

I was also looking at some old maps of Braco as I was trying to tie down some 120 year old photographs of a "Roman" Bridge in the village that I knew nothing about and came across reference to a Golf Course in the village from 1901. I don't think that there is anybody in the village that is aware of that small fact. I also discovered a couple of foot bridges that are no longer there and a loch with boat house. All very interesting but only if you are a resident I would think.

Here is the link to Grinnan Hill Fort (Pages 12 and 13 of the PDF File)

http://ads.ahds.ac.u.../34_043_120.pdf

M...