What Did the Romans Do for Us? –

Built a Wall to Keep Scots Out!

If you remember the scene on Monty Python’s Life of Brian then you’ll recognise the question, but seriously what did the Romans do for Scotland? Well rather like a certain Mr T in the USA they built a wall, in fact two walls. We know all about Hadrian’s Wall, but sometime we forget about the Antoine Wall. This 39 mile wall was built in 142 AD and had 16 forts built along its length. It was made of stone and turf it was once the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire constructed on the orders of Emperor Antoninus Pius. The wall wasn’t very successful though and was abandoned some 20 years after it was built.  The wall spanned across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. There were fine buildings too, one near Stenhousemuir a place name which a Norwegian friend told me was pure Norse language. It was called Arthur's O'on, a circular stone rotunda or temple. Demolished for its stone in 1743 a replica was built at Penicuik House.

 Now in Glorious 3D

Now a virtual version of the Roman fort at Bar Hill, near the town of Kilsyth in North Lanarkshire, one of the 16 forts on the Antonine Wall is being brought back to life in digital form with leading edge technology.  Now you can do a virtual flyover of the fort and see how it looked in Roman times, all in glorious 3D. And when visitors go to see the present day ruins they will have a smart phone app to help them explore the vestiges of Roman presence in Scotland. The whole thing is under the auspices of Historic Scotland and the Glasgow School of Art and celebrates what is a world heritage site, despite the depredations of 2,000 years of history.

Celebrate the Past

There are two sites were the general public can visit the Antonine  Wall at Bar Hill and Roughcastle, near Bonnybridge and it is hoped that these new interactive tools will enthuse new generations of Scots to look at their heritage in a positive way and explore the past, seeing it as fun and relevant. What they call these days engaging with the past.

Celebrate Heritage

Well here at James Pirie we do a fair bit of engaging with the past ourselves via the internet with some of our very fine heritage brands and great products. Take for example our new treasures from Royal Crown Derby range, one of which is in the Old Imari Solid Gold Band Seahorse which can be yours with lavish 22 carat gold decoration. It’s a belter

https://www.jamespirie.com/brands/royal-crown-derby/2017-new-introductions.html