Wheel

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This wooden wheel is restored from fragments found at the bottom of a pit on the site of the Roman fort at Newstead in Roxburghshire. Such objects rarely survive. This wheel was used between 140 and 180 AD.

The hub was carved from a single piece of oak. The rim (or felloe) of the wheel is made up from six joined sections. Twelve spokes (five of which are modern reconstructions) join it to the central piece which has a hole for the axle.

The Romans hauled materials over short and long distances in wagons and carts to order to set up and provision their network of forts. Often all that is left of the vehicles are metal fittings, bindings and occasionally the tyres.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-100-037-039-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.FRA 478
• Date: Between 140 and 180 AD
  
• Material: Wood, oak; complete; restored
  Wheel, rota cambiginata
  
• Dimensions:
• What: Wheel, rota cambiginata
  
• Subject:
• Who: Newstead Collection
  
• Where: Scotland, Roxburghshire, Melrose, Newstead
  
• Event:
• Description: Rota cambiginata wheel of oak, from Newstead
  
• References:
  • Clarke, D.V., Breeze, D.J., and Mackay, Ghillean. The Romans in Scotland. An introduction to the collections of the National Museums of Antiquities of Scotland. Edinburgh: National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, 1980, p 68. 
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