interior. No trace was found of a ditch either in front of the reducing wall, nor of any rampart behind it. Further, although the foundations of the reducing wall were followed to within a short distance of where it would actually meet the north and south walls respectively, all efforts to discover the actual junction were fruitless at both extremities. It is possible that its base had rested on the rampart clay at either end, and that all trace of it at these points had been removed in the subsequent destruction of the rampart. Its construction, however, as well as that of its gateway, leave no doubt as to its defensive character. The best preserved portion of it which is shown in Plate VII., Fig. 1, lay some forty feet south of the place where it was pierced by the gateway. There its foundation of cobbles was about one foot nine inches thick and five feet six inches wide. On these were lying heavy blocks of red sandstone. Six of these, in situ, on the west side of the wall, varied in width from two feet to fourteen inches, and in length from three feet six inches to two feet. The whole had evidently been about five feet six inches thick. The less substantial character of the new wall and the absence of any ditch in front of it not improbably indicate that the older defences beyond were still in use, though it was perhaps beyond the power of the attenuated garrison to man them fully.
The Gates
The Roman sites hitherto excavated in Scotland have not produced many details that illustrate the construction of gateways. With the exception of Castlecary[1] they have been earthen forts, in which gateways as well as gates must have been of wood, and they have accordingly yielded little that was of any value for the purpose. Even at Castlecary, where the use of stone walls makes it certain that the gateways had been of a similarly substantial character, not much was added to our knowledge. The opening was found to be ten feet wide in each case. There appeared to be no towers nor any projection beyond the line of the outer face of the wall. On the other hand, the wall itself returned at right angles inwards, for a distance of fourteen feet on either side of the entrances, these returns being eight feet thick. The exact position of the gates themselves was not ascertained. At Newstead the entrances were not without interest, but the absence of details was again disappointing. It was no doubt due to the fact that the heavy masonry, which would naturally be employed there, would early disappear, once the deserted fortifications began to be used as a quarry.
1 Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, vol. xxxvii. p. 25.
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