Bothwellhaugh Roman Fort

Bothwellhaugh Roman Fort lies within Strathclyde Country Park in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It sits east of where the South Calder Water meets Strathclyde Loch, now a scheduled monument. Before the loch was created, the fort overlooked a Roman road crossing the South Calder Water near its junction with the River Clyde. Known as Watling Street, this road appears on old maps from before the Clyde’s diversion. The fort stands west of Motherwell, north of Hamilton, and south of Bellshill. The fort was first noted in the Old Statistical Account and rediscovered by J. M. Davidson in 1925. Built as a scalene right quadrilateral, it could house both troops and cavalry. Evidence suggests it linked to sites on the Antonine Wall and south at Castledykes, though connections remain under study. A Roman bath house was found in 1973 beneath a pond and moved to higher ground in 1980. Lawrence Keppie directed its full excavation from 1975 to 1976. Visitors find the relocated bath house open to the public, complete with a vestibule, frigidarium, tepidaria, caldarium, and praefurnium. Around twenty soldiers could use the baths at once. Excavations uncovered artefacts now in the Hunterian Museum, including a drain cover slab, a hunt cup, and tile with a paw print. Pottery confirms Antonine occupation, though the site’s exact relation to the Antonine Wall is unclear. Other structures may still lie undiscovered nearby.