What is recorded here

Rough Castle is a small Roman fort on the Antonine Wall near Tamfourhill, built around 142 AD under Antoninus Pius to hold the frontier with 480 men of the Cohors VI Nerviorum. Its turf ramparts, ditches, gateway causeways and stone foundations still mark a compact place where barracks, baths, a granary and a commander’s house once stood. The name sounds like a child’s warning, but the layout is plainly military: a defensible block set into the wall, with pits and stakes guarding the northern approach.

Scotland's National Record of the Historic Environment records Rough Castle as Defensive Pits (roman), Roman Fort (roman). The official map says its point is accurate as follows: NGR given to the nearest 10m. The record does not by itself mean that the public may enter the place.

Rough Castle was a Roman fort and defensive site, built and occupied during the Roman occupation of Scotland, roughly between the 2nd and 4th centuries AD. It is important as part of the Roman military infrastructure in the region, reflecting their efforts to control and defend the northern frontier of the empire.

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