Wonder Wall

Rubble from a Roman road leading into the site of a Roman fortlet at Kinneil, Bo'ness. On the right are posts to mark buildings. In the background is woodland.

Remains of a Roman fortlet lie to the west (rear) of Kinneil House, Bo’ness.

The Antonine Wall was built by the Emperor Antoninus Pius to hold back Caledonian tribes from invading southern Scotland, then under Roman rule.

Unlike the stone-built Hadrian’s Wall, the Antonine Wall consisted of a rampart of soil, faced with turf, resting on a stone foundation. It stood 12 feet high, and was protected on the north side by a wide, deep V-shaped ditch. It was abandoned around AD 160, when the Romans retreated to Hadrian’s Wall.

Today, many parts of the Antonine Wall lie under towns and settlements, built long after the Romans departed Scotland. However, evidence of the wall’s ramparts and buildings can still be found.

The Bo’ness area is fortunate in having a number of highly visible parts of the Antonine Wall.

You can see:

replica of a Roman Tablet at Bridgeness, Bo’ness
the remains of Roman fortlet (pictured above) at Kinneil Estate, Bo’ness
a Roman-inspired sculpture at the entrance to Kinneil Estate
stretches of the ditch at Polmont Woods
Callendar Park in Falkirk
Watling Lodge, Tamfourhill (near the Falkirk Wheel)
Rough Castle, between the Wheel and Bonnybridge
Seabegs Wood, near Bonnybridge
a fort site near Castlecary

There are also free exhibitions on the Romans in local museums:

Callendar House, Falkirk, and
Kinneil in Bo’ness.

Former stable block now a museum at Kinneil Estate, Bo'ness.

Kinneil Museum in Bo’ness features Roman displays and artefacts.

Outside the district, there are displays in the:

Roman replica in sandstone surrounded by stone wall.

The impressive Bridgeness Slab replica in Bo’ness.

In 2008, the Antonine Wall became part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site, which also includes Hadrian’s Wall in England and the German Limes. In 2012 a replica of the Bridgeness Roman Tablet (pictured above) was unveiled at Harbour Road, Bo’ness – a short drive from Kinneil Museum. A new Antonine Wall website was launched in 2014.

Check the Kinneil homepage for information on Kinneil open days