Castle Greg is the archaeological remains of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

let in

Harburn Harburn is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bill Harburn (1923–1970), British footballer * Colin Harburn (1938–2022), Australian cricketer * Peter Harburn (1931–2010), British footballer See also * Harburn, West Lot ...

on the Camilty Plantation, approximately three miles south-east of

West Calder West Calder ( sco, Wast Cauder, gd, Caladar an Iar) is a village in the council area of West Lothian, Scotland, located four miles west of Livingston, West Lothian, Livingston. Historically it is within the County of Midlothian. The village was ...

West Lothian West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its shires of Scotland, historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geogra ...

, in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The site is less than an acre in size, and lies just off the B7008. It is one of the best preserved Roman

earthworks Earthworks may refer to: Construction *Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour * Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil *Earthworks (military), m ...

in the country and was first excavated in the 19th century by Sir Daniel Wilson, the interior excavation having taken place in 1852. The remains take the form of two defensive ditches protecting a clearly visible rectangular

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...

. Originally, these ditches would have been at least fifteen feet in depth. The rampart behind the ditches still stands up to five feet high in places, though obviously, this would have been far higher when the fortlet was in use. On the rampart stood a wooden

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymology ''Palisade' ...

, at least ten feet high, with a walkway running the length of the fortlet. There is an entrance through the rampart at the eastern end, over which would have stood a wooden tower attached to the walkway. Very little remains of the flat interior of the fortlet, although it is known that within there would have been two rows of

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

, between which there was a well. There would also have been a stable block. During the 1852 excavation of the interior, pottery was discovered from the well between the two barracks. Castle Greg was a most likely used as a monitoring base for an east–west road running along the foot of the nearby Pentlands, from the

Forth Forth or FORTH may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''forth'' magazine, an Internet magazine * ''Forth'' (album), by The Verve, 2008 * ''Forth'', a 2011 album by Proto-Kaw * Radio Forth, a group of independent local radio stations in Scotla ...

to the

Clyde Valley The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

. Although the fortlet currently commands no long-distance views, during the 1st century AD, when the fort was in use, the surrounding countryside was not forested, and Castle Greg would have been able to view clearly up to the

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

coastline and the mountains beyond. The name Castle Greg is possibly derived from the Roman name ''Camulosessa Præsidium'', from nearby Camilty, itself derived from ''Camulos Tref'' – literally, village of

Camulos Camulus or Camulos is a Celtic deity who was identified with Mars via ''interpretatio romana''. Camulus was an important god of Roman Britain and Gaul, especially among the Belgae and the Remi, a Gaulish people living in the region that is now m ...

Notes

External links

Roman Britain site with pictures

3D model of the fortlet that can be viewed in Google Earth

Site description from the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland

Archaeological sites in West Lothian Roman auxiliary forts in Scotland Scheduled monuments in Scotland {{AncientRome-stub