An innovative project bringing to life the ancient Roman Antonine Wall has been honoured with a prestigious national award.
The Rediscovering the Antonine Wall Project was voted the top Outdoors attraction at the Association for Heritage Interpretation’s Engaging People Awards.
An expert panel hailed the Arniebog distance stone and the Silvanus sculpture – a towering metal depiction of a Roman soldier’s head - at Nethercroy in North Lanarkshire for capturing the imagination of local residents.
It’s the latest success for the £2.1 million project, led by West Dunbartonshire Council on behalf of four other local authorities, including North Lanarkshire Council and Historic Environment Scotland, that aims to raise awareness of the Roman UNESCO World Heritage Site and attract local community and visitors to understand its significance.
Emma McMullen, Antonine Wall Project Manager at West Dunbartonshire Council, said: “We are thrilled to win this award which recognises the amazing work going on through the Rediscovering the Antonine Wall Project to bring local Roman heritage back to life.
“We were delighted to launch the replica distance stone and sculpture to raise awareness of the area’s heritage among the local community and visitors to Croy Hill at the start of May, and it is already providing to be a big draw to the local area.”
Lorna Bowden, Planning and Place Manager, North Lanarkshire Council, added: “The siting of the replica distance stone and Roman head sculpture have proven to be extremely popular with visitors and local residents, and are becoming well-known attractions.
“We’re delighted to hear the project was successful at the AHI awards and would like to thank everyone involved for delivering such a fantastic installation which has had a positive impact on building on the area’s Roman Heritage.
“It’s really captured the imagination of young and old alike and highlighted the significance of this historical site to the local community.”
The exciting sculpture has been commissioned as part of The Rediscovering the Antonine Wall project. This is a partnership of five local authorities and Historic Environment Scotland, led by West Dunbartonshire Council, which is delivering a wide range of community-led projects along the line of the wall. The aim of the £2.1m project is to raise awareness of the Antonine Wall World Heritage Site among local communities, give them the opportunity to explore and share aspects of Roman heritage that are important to them locally, and encourage community-led regeneration and place-making.
Speaking on behalf of the judges, Bill Bevan from the AHI, explained: “The award was given because the judges loved the way the installation encouraged visitors to engage and discuss the area’s Roman heritage with each other.
“Silvanus provides the drama while the distance stone brings the community involvement, relevance to people today and demonstrates the reason for its location.
“It has gone beyond raising the profile of the Wall locally to encouraging local people to consider it as part of their heritage - and to share this with others. That must be regarded as a significant success.”
The Antonine Wall marked the most northerly point of the Roman Empire and the Council areas it passes through – West Dunbartonshire, Glasgow, East Dunbartonshire, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk – joined forces with Historic Environment Scotland to bring its fascinating story back to life.
The category winners were announced at the online awards ceremony held during the AHI conference on Thursday 4 November. They all compete for the overall AHI Award for Excellence on the 18 November.