Cawdor (Roman fort)

Cawdor (Roman Fort), located near the small village of Easter Galcantray (15 mi east of Inverness), was suspected of being one of the northernmost Roman forts in Great Britain, although no evidence of Roman occupation has been found to date.

Discovery
In 1984 cropmarks were identified at Easter Galcantray, south west of Cawdor, by aerial photography. The site was described as being on the "south bank of river Nairn, straight cropmark with gap in middle and suggestion of two more sides, truncated by river, at right angles to main mark." Excavations between 1985 and 1990 uncovered a ditch, post holes, a corner tower and a few pottery fragments. Studies of the pottery identified it as medieval.

The posisbility that the site may have been a Roman fort was raised. Although no Roman pottery or artefacts were found, several features were identified that seemed supportive of this classification:

"''Jones (1986a) interpreted the main structural phase within the (Cawdor) site’s history as potential evidence for the presence of a Roman military work. This assumption was based on a number of salient factors. These include: the rectilinear form of the enclosure ditch, with its V-shaped profile; the associated timber gate and corner tower; the presence of possible contemporary rectilinear timber buildings, which appear reminiscent in both size and form to barrack blocks; and finally, the dating evidence. This, based on the one sigma calibrated range, suggests the slighting of the site during the late first century AD, which would correspond to the governorship of Agricola, or possibly his unknown successor."

However, Romano-British scholars have been reticent in confirming Jones' interpretation. Maxwell and Wilson wrote: "For the present, it may be noted that, viewed as crop-mark sites, neither [Cawdor nor Thomshill] sits happily in the established morphological categories of standard Roman military installations in North Britain". David Breeze added that "the suggested Roman context for the sites at Easter Galcantray [Cawdor] and Thoms Hill - Daniels 1986 and Jones 1986 - fails to convince; most of the evidence from the former site would better sit within a medieval context". William Hanson concluded that "none of the postulated sites discovered by aerial survey in Moray and Nairn over recent years has the distinctive morphological characteristics of a Roman fort".

Radiocarbon tests of material recovered from the site gave possible dates of construction during Agricola's first century campaign, but its interpretation remains problematic because the site was occupied and abandoned quite quickly leaving no other evidence.