Blatobulgium

Blatobulgium was a Roman fort near the modern village of Birrens in Dumfriesshire. It guarded the main western route into Scotland when the frontier lay on Hadrian’s Wall. The fort stood about 18 kilometres from Netherby, where another Roman fort called Castra Exploratorum was located. Its name may come from Brittonic words meaning ‘flowery hillock’ or ‘flour sacks’, perhaps a joke about the granaries kept there. The site was first used in the late 1st century during Agricola’s campaigns. Later, under Hadrian, a new fort was built on the same spot. The fort is worth visiting because it shows how Rome’s borders shifted over time. It was rebuilt and enlarged around 142 when the Antonine Wall became the frontier. At its peak it housed a thousand-strong mixed unit of cavalry and infantry from the 1st Cohort Nerviana Germanorum. The fort was destroyed about 155, rebuilt again in 159, and finally abandoned by 184. Nearby Watling Street, or Route 2 of the Antonine Itinerary, led south from this point. Visitors today see grassy mounds marking the fort’s former walls and ditches. Excavations have uncovered many inscribed and sculpted stones, more than at any other Roman site in Scotland. Among the finds are an altar to the Celtic goddess Ricagambeda and a statue and altar to Brigantia. The surrounding farmland and hills give a quiet setting for imagining the fort’s busy past.