<-- Previous ^ Up ^ Next -->

Overlaid on a modern map of West Central Scotland, Roman and possible Roman roads are plotted. The Roman route plotted in red along the top of the map is the Antonine Wall, a defensive line that the Romans build to separate them from the natives further north. Along the bottom of the map, plotted in red and green, is the Roman route between the Loudoun Hill fort and the Castledykes fort near Carstairs. From the lower right corner to the center of this map, plotted mostly in red, is the Roman road from their Castledykes fort near Carstairs to their Bothwellhaugh fort near Motherwell. That road no doubt continued to the Antonine Wall but it is plotted in green because seemingly no trace of it has been identified due to the development of Glasgow in recent centuries. Plotted in blue is the eight-mile connection route that has been studied in considerable detail. The remaining pictures in this photo album were taken along that route. The route has been documented for Scottish archeologists. During the field walking while researching the connection route plotted in blue, two other possible routes were noticed. They are plotted on this map in grey. They have not been studied as thoroughly. At the northeast end of the connection route studied thoroughly, it looks like the long-known Roman road might have gone straight west into present-day Carluke and then turned northwest toward Wishaw and Motherwell, rather than cross Belstane Burn and the boggy land of Garrion Burn as has been speculated by past Roman road searchers. That speculated route is plotted in green while the possibility hereby offered is plotted in grey. The other possible route that has not been explored thoroughly is near the southwest end of the connection route. It looks like there might have been a shorter route from Loudoun Hill to Carstairs. There is a plausible crossing of the Cander Water south of Tanhill and Gill Farms. It could have crossed the River Nethan east of present-day Kirkmuirhill. That route could then have gone past Auchenheath and over the south shoulder of Black Hill along the rural lane still in use. Possibly when the Romans returned to Scotland after withdrawing to England for a half century, they could have built new Cander crossings, one heading east toward Lanark and Carstairs and the other heading northeast toward Carluke. The detail report includes three additional maps showing much more detail of the newly suggested connection route, each map covering about three miles.