Helen Rose's Outdoor Diary: Roman Barr Hill and Croy Hill.

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Helen Rose’s Outdoor Diary: Roman Barr Hill and Croy Hill.

December, 2025

I did the Barr Hill and Croy Hill walk with Glasgow Ramblers some years ago. It was memorable for the history and the good company in the Glasgow Ramblers. It was in spring time but I have since done it in autumn with Glasgow Health Culture Rambling Club when the weather was better but I did not have a camera with me. These hills are located in the central belt of Scotland and there is a shrine to the Roman Regiments based there.

Climbing

The walk starts from Auchenstarry, an extensive Dolerite disused quarry with great character and good protection. A stalwart of central belt traditional climbing and a wide variety of routes. It was a pleasant walk along the adjacent canal.

Flowers

The wild garlic was in full bloom with lovely white flowers. In cooking it is a lot more subtle in taste to garlic bulbs.

Dandelions are common flowering plants in the daisy family, known for their bright yellow flowers that turn into fluffy, wind-dispersed seed heads. They are considered a resilient “weed” due to their deep taproot and ability to grow from even small root segments, but they are also used in salads, teas, and for medicinal purposes. Dandelions are valuable to pollinators as an early nectar source. The dandelions were also in full flower with the brilliant yellow heads. They get bad press as they tend to grow out of control in a tended garden and are the bane of the careful gardeners life.

Antonine Wall

The Antonine Wall (Latin: Vallum Antonini) was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland between the Clyde and the Forth Rivers. Built some twenty years after Hadrian’s Wall to the south, and intended to supersede it, while it was garrisoned it was the northernmost frontier barrier of the Roman Empire. It spanned approximately 63 kilometres (39 miles) and was about 3 metres (10 feet) high and 5 metres (16 feet) wide. Lidar scans have been carried out to establish the length of the wall and the Roman distance units used.^[Security was bolstered by a deep ditch on the northern side. It is thought that there was a wooden palisade on top of the turf. The barrier was the second of two “great walls” created by the Romans in Great Britain in the second century AD. Its ruins are less evident than those of the better-known and longer Hadrian’s Wall to the south, primarily because the turf and wood wall has largely weathered away, unlike its stone-built southern predecessor.

Construction began in AD 142 at the order of Roman Emperor Antoninus. Estimates of how long it took to complete vary widely, with six and twelve years most commonly proposed. Antoninus Pius never visited Britain, unlike his predecessor Hadrian. Pressure from the Caledonians probably led Antoninus to send the empire’s troops farther north. The Antonine Wall was protected by 16 forts with small fortlets between them; troop movement was facilitated by a road linking all the sites known as the Military Way. The soldiers who built the wall commemorated the construction and their struggles with the Caledonians with decorative slabs, twenty of which survive. The wall was abandoned only eight years after completion, and the garrisons relocated rearward to Hadrian’s Wall. Most of the wall and its associated fortifications have been destroyed over time, but some remains are visible. Many of these have come under the care of Historic Environment Scotland and the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. The following hills on the walk are part of the Antonine Way

Castle Hill and Barr Hill

We left the canal towpath and headed up Castle Hill to Barr Hill trig point where there had been Roman settlements. A Roman hill fort is a fortified site built on a hill, sometimes adapted from existing Iron Age Hill Forts for use by the Roman military. These forts were strategically located for their natural defensive advantages and often included features like ramparts, ditches, and gateways. Roman hill forts served various purposes, such as providing a secure base for training and defence, acting as a temporary military post, or housing a high-status settlement.

We had a lunch sitting on a wall which had probably been part ot the Roman Bath House

Croy Hill

The Croy Hill Roman Fort is located on the Antonine Wall between the villages of Croy and Dullatur in North Lanarkshire. It is one of 16 forts along the wall, and while much of the original fort is no longer visible, you can still see low walls, traces of a bath house and granary, and the distinctive ditch cut through solid rock. The site is open to the public and offers commanding views over the surrounding landscape.

This was an interesting historic walk and we made our way to Croy Station for the train back to Glasgow.

Many thanks to Terry from Glasgow Ramblers who led the spring walk and Sue from Glasgow Health Culture who led the autumn walk.