Pennymuir marching camp

About Pennymuir marching camp

The Roman camps at Pennymuir, also known as Towford, are the best-preserved temporary camps left by the legions in Scotland. Their proximity to several other Iron Age sites, such as Dere Street which runs alongside it and the huge hillfort of Woden Law which overlooks it, makes a visit to Pennymuir a highlight for anyone interested in Iron Age Scotland.

When marching into a new frontier or going between their permanent forts the Roman army often needed to camp overnight in hostile territory. Dozens of these temporary camps can still be traced throughout the south of Scotland, their earthen ramparts and areas of open, levelled ground often revealed by aerial photography.

Marching camps did not have permanent buildings such as barracks blocks, so the legionaries slept in tents. Unlike camping today where we leave no trace but footsteps, Roman marching camps often made permanent impressions on the land. The largest of Pennymuir’s four distinct camps, ‘Camp A’, covered 42 acres and had ramparts up to 4.6m wide and 1.2m high. It had six entrances and space inside for two full-strength legions totalling between 8,000 to 12,000 soldiers.

Temporary camps sometimes functioned as training stations, with troops undertaking exercises to improve their battlefield coordination, practice with siege engines such as ballistae, and learn how to build camps and forts quickly in often harsh environments.

They are testaments to the complex logistics that made Rome’s conquests possible, still visible in the landscape after nearly 2,000 years.

NB: Postcode is for approximate location only. For accuracy what3words: producing.folds.writing or National Grid Reference: NT 754 139