Kilsyth – Silvanus

Located off the road between Dullatur and Kilsyth, on the Antonine heritage trail, is an imposing steel structure that sits East of Croy Hill and North of the Antonine Wall, measuring 7 metres by 6.6 metres.

The sculpture depicts the head of a roman centurion and looks towards the Kelvin Valley, the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Kilsyth Hills, an area that the Romans are said to have considered as “barbarian territory,” beyond the most Northern edge of the Roman Empire. The monument has been called Silvanus, following a naming and voting competition with local residents.

Silvanus was a Roman god and protector of forests, fields and cattle. There are three altars mentioning this along the Antonine Wall, one of them at nearby Bar Hill.

A stone sculpture has been erected beside Silvanus, featuring a replica of one of five Roman Distance Stones that have been discovered during archaeological digs along the Antonine Wall. The original stone was found at Arniebog Farm in Westerwood (Cumbernauld) and can be viewed at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow. This reproduction was made by stonemasonry students at the City of Glasgow College.

The sculpture was commissioned as part of The Rediscovering the Antonine Wall project. It was also the recipient of the Engaging People Award (outdoors category) by the Association of Heritage Interpretation in 2021.

The creators were Svetlana Kondakova Muir and Big Red Blacksmiths.

To see more works by Svetlana Kondakova Muir click HERE.

To visit Svetlana Kondakova Muir’s website, click HERE.

To see more works by Big Red Blacksmith click HERE.

To visit Big Red Blacksmith’s website, click HERE.