Dere Street Roman Road

PricingFreeFree for all visitors

Free entry for everyone

Entry

Free for everyone

Pricing details

Free entry for everyone; no membership card is needed.

ParkingParking not known

The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.

Parking details

Historic Scotland's location plan marks parking beside Soutra Aisle on the B6368 as the north entrance, a short walk from the start of the northern stretch. Its directions say: 'Park in the lay-by at Kirkton Hill Farm, then walk through the field on farm tracks. At the end of the track there will be a sign on a cast iron fence', which is the way to the southern stretch on Turf Law. No charge or free statement is published, so the status is recorded as unknown.

Driving pin: the parking place by Soutra Aisle, about 420 m north of Historic Scotland's own pin on the road line. The site is 'South West of Soutra Aisle, just off the A68 on the B6368'. Strong footwear is recommended. Historic Scotland gives journey planners only.

About

High on the slopes south of Soutra Hill, two stretches of the great Roman road known as Dere Street survive in remarkable condition. The road was built on the orders of Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Roman governor of Britain, during his campaigns of AD 79 to 81, and ran from Corbridge by Hadrian's Wall over the Cheviots to the large fort at Newstead by Melrose, then by the Leader Water to Musselburgh and Cramond on the Forth. A milestone shows it was used again in the Antonine period, about 60 years later, and long after the Romans left it remained a route north: Edward I marched his army along it to victory at Falkirk in 1298. Here the road is more than 7 m wide, with small quarry pits beside it that supplied its gravel. The setting is open upland. Park by Soutra Aisle on the B6368 for the northern stretch, or at Kirkton Hill Farm for the southern one on Turf Law.

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Dere Street Roman RoadOpen at all times

Opening times may change at short notice.

Historic Scotland: 'Dere Street Roman Road is free to visit and open all year round.' No hours are published.

Two stretches are in Historic Scotland's care on the open hillside south of Soutra: a northern one starting near Soutra Aisle and a southern one on the slope of Turf Law, each about a kilometre long, reached across fields and farm tracks. The road survives as a grassy raised bank more than 7 m wide with small quarry pits beside it. No toilets or other facilities.

Photo: The grassy raised line of Dere Street near Soutra Aisle, with shallow quarry pits beside it and wind turbines on the skyline. Mainlymazza, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dere_Street,_remains_of_Roman_Road_near_Soutra_Aisle_04.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.