Wonder Wall

The Antonine Wall was built by the Emperor Antoninus Pius to hold back Caledonian tribes from invading southern Scotland, then under Roman rule.

Unlike the stone-built Hadrian’s Wall, the Antonine Wall consisted of a rampart of soil, faced with turf, resting on a stone foundation. It stood 12 feet high, and was protected on the north side by a wide, deep V-shaped ditch. It was abandoned around AD 160, when the Romans retreated to Hadrian’s Wall.

Today, many parts of the Antonine Wall lie under towns and settlements, built long after the Romans departed Scotland. However, evidence of the wall’s ramparts and buildings can still be found.

The Bo’ness area is fortunate in having a number of highly visible parts of the Antonine Wall.

You can see:

replica of a Roman Tablet at Bridgeness, Bo’ness;
the remains of Roman fortlet (and museum) at Kinneil Estate, Bo’ness;
stretches of the ditch at Polmont Woods;
Callendar Park in Falkirk; and
Watling Lodge, Tamfourhill (near the Falkirk Wheel);
Rough Castle, between the Wheel and Bonnybridge;
Seabegs Wood, near Bonnybridge.

There are also free exhibitions on the Romans in local museums:

Outside the district, there are displays in the:

In 2008, the Antonine Wall became part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site, which also includes Hadrian’s Wall in England and the German Limes.