Historic Environment Scotland, in partnership with Falkirk Council, East Dunbartonshire Council, West Dunbartonshire Council, North Lanarkshire Council and Glasgow City Council, is organizing consultation sessions for the community to seek their input on shaping the future of one of Scotland’s most iconic heritage sites, the Antonine Wall.
Constructed in the early 140s AD on the orders of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius, the Antonine Wall was the most northern frontier of the Roman Empire and stretched from the Clyde estuary at Old Kilpatrick to the Firth of Forth near Bo’ness.
The Antonine Wall is one of the six World Heritage Sites in Scotland. To receive the World Heritage status, UNESCO requires each site to have a management plan. The management plan serves as a common framework for preserving, managing, and improving the site.
It is developed in collaboration with Historic Environment Scotland and the five council areas that the Antonine Wall passes through: East Dunbartonshire Council, West Dunbartonshire Council, Falkirk Council, Glasgow City Council, and North Lanarkshire Council.
During the consultation session, attendees will be asked to provide their opinions on how the Antonine Wall can be managed and utilized in the future. The focus will be on four key themes which are access, community engagement, tourism, and regeneration.
The session will suggest initiatives to make the Wall more accessible to locals and communities, especially those who currently face barriers. Additionally, there will be discussions about potential creative projects and events that can be held along the Wall and ways to increase the use of exhibition and interpretation spaces.
The management plan will also build on the award-winning ‘Rediscovering the Antonine Wall’ project, which ran for five years before concluding in spring 2023.
Riona McMorrow, Deputy Head of World Heritage at Historic Environment Scotland, said:
“Scotland’s six World Heritage Sites are among the most precious parts of our historic environment, and the Antonine Wall is no exception. We wish to make the Antonine Wall a source of inspiration, wellbeing and creativity for visitors and residents, while also preserving it for future generations to enjoy.”
“We hope that anyone with an investment in the future of this hugely important heritage site will come along to our community session. Alongside this, we will also be doing further online engagement later in the spring, to ensure we hear from as many people as possible.”
Anyone interested in attending a community consultation session can reserve a space on Eventbrite.
