Town in Dunbartonshire, Scotland
Bearsden
Bearsden's Roman soldiers left behind a bath house and a latrine so well preserved that archaeologists could work out what they ate for dinner.
Key information
- County
- Dunbartonshire
- Nation
- Scotland
- Known for
- Roman bath house, Antonine Wall, leafy commuter suburb north-west of Glasgow
About Bearsden
The Roman latrine that told us what soldiers ate
Bearsden's most remarkable treasure is a patch of ground where Roman soldiers washed, relaxed and, rather usefully for historians, used the toilet. Around AD 142 the Romans built a fort here as part of the Antonine Wall, the turf-and-timber frontier that briefly marked the northern edge of their empire. When archaeologists dug the site in the 1970s, they uncovered the stone remains of the fort's bath house, still standing in a quiet residential street. The real surprise came from the drains. Analysis of the fort's sewer deposits revealed what the garrison had been eating: lots of wheat bran, plus traces of coriander and other flavourings. Few places in Britain can tell you so much about a Roman lunch. The bath house is one of the best-preserved Roman military buildings in Scotland, and you can walk right up to it in the middle of suburban Bearsden.
A wall through the back gardens
The Antonine Wall was started under Emperor Antoninus Pius, and it runs for roughly 60 kilometres across Scotland's narrow waist, from the Forth to the Clyde. It was abandoned within a generation, but Bearsden is one of the places where its story is easiest to trace. The line of the old frontier passes through the town, and a stretch of the great ditch survives. Houses, gardens and tidy streets were laid out beside it long after the soldiers marched away. In 2008 the Antonine Wall joined the UNESCO-listed Frontiers of the Roman Empire, which means Bearsden's streets sit beside a World Heritage frontier.
How a railway station built a town
Before the Victorians, this was mostly farmland and woodland on the road north from Glasgow. The name Bearsden is generally linked to a wooded hollow, a 'den', in the area. The real turning point came in 1863, when the railway to Milngavie opened. Suddenly well-off Glasgow merchants and professionals could live among trees and fresh air and still be at their desks in the city within minutes. Villas, then tree-lined avenues, spread out from the station. Bearsden became a burgh in its own right in 1958, and it has kept its reputation as one of Scotland's most sought-after commuter towns.
Lochs, woods and the start of a long walk
For a suburb, Bearsden has a lot of nature on its doorstep. Kilmardinny Loch sits in the middle of the town, with its surrounding parkland and the old Kilmardinny House close by. A short distance north is Mugdock Country Park, with woodland trails, a loch and the ruins of Mugdock Castle. Neighbouring Milngavie is where the West Highland Way begins, so serious walkers often pass through the area on their way to Fort William. That mix of Roman remains, villas and woodland is why Bearsden feels like a small town that happens to be on Glasgow's rail map.