Figurine of Ram, Birrens
Birrens Roman Fort, nr Ecclefechan
Found in a field North East of Birrens Roman Fort by a metal
detector, this small figuine of a ram is made from bronze and has
survived in a fair condition. Unfortunately the object is
incomplete with the ear and forelegs missing.
Birrnes Roman Fort
The remains of this fort are quite impressive when approached
from the south, where its southern defences, arranged along the
edge of a natural scarp above the river are now covered in gorse
bushes. The remains of stone-built buildings are visible across the
whole of the interior, all beneath an overlying blanket of turf,
except at the south-east corner, where several courses of stonework
are visible; these belong not to the fort's defences but to
buildings in the retentura or rear of the camp, the corner-angle
itself having been lost to erosion. The extensive ditch system and
entrance causeway is especially prominent on the north, and a
scatter of shaped stones on the west rampart marks the position of
the gateway on this side.
The only classical reference for the name of the Birrens
encampment is contained in the Antonine Itinerary of the
late-second century. Iter II, "the route from the 'Entrenchments'
to the port of Rutupiae, four-hundred and eighty-one thousand
paces", details the journey from Hadrian's
Wall to Richborough in Kent. In this itinerary the name
Blato bulgio appears as the northern terminus, some 12 Roman miles
from Castra Exploratorum (Netherby, Cumbria), both stations lying
beyond the Wall of Hadrian.
Object no :
RPD0131
Collection :
Creator :
NA
Place of Production :
NA
Dimensions :
length: 37mm width: 9mm
Materials :
Bronze
Location :
Birrens Roman Fort, nr Ecclefechan
Related site :
Accession number :
DUMFM:1984.27.31
Copyright :
NA