East Pond and the Antonine Wall

The East Pond of the Kinneil Estate is not large, but is pretty and home to some of the regions wildlife. At this time of year it is not at all colourful, but even in spring nature can be wonderful to look at.

The greens of summer replaced with browns and greys and occasional orange of the trees and bushes.

I don’t hear the local ducks quacking but I can hear the gulls squawking over head and the as I look up on my way to the Antonine Wall I see crows and sparrows swirling and swooping above the trees. I follow the path around the pond and see the area I am heading for.

Not much remains of the Antonine Wall but it is now considered to be Scotland's principal Roman monument. The wall was built around 142 AD at the triumphant end of a military campaign in southern Scotland by the Roman army under the orders of Antoninus Pius, hence ‘Antonine’.

According to the history books it was probably built to strengthen his position as the new emperor of the Roman Empire. Like Hadrian’s Wall, it would have been built to divide the British isle in two. After the death of Antoninus the Roman army withdrew from central Scotland after an occupation of only a little over 20 years, at which time the wall was abandoned, in 162AD, when the Roman legions pulled back to relative safety of Hadrian's Wall, and over time reached an accommodation with the tribes of the area. After a number of attacks in 197 AD, the Emperor Septimius Severus arrived in Scotland in 208 AD to secure the frontier, and repaired parts of the wall. Although this re-occupation only lasted a few years, the wall is sometimes referred to by later Roman historians as the Severan Wall.

The Antonine Wall was a 39 mile (61 kilometers) long barrier built across the narrowest part of central Scotland. It was built of a turf and earthen rampart standing 11feet (3.5 m) in height on a stone foundation on a wooden palisade. About 20 feet (6 meters) to the north of this a substantial V-shaped ditch was dug. This was about 40 feet (12 meters) wide and roughly 14 feet (4.2 meters) deep.

I have no idea how the soldier of the Roman Empire felt being so far from home in such a cold and hostile environment, but looking around from my position at the fortlet I can at least see some of what they saw. The woods may be different, the landscape has changed, but looking out to the River Forth there is still a connection.

Building and people may come and go but a natural feature like the River Forth just runs its way through time and history.