NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Use 13 October 2009b PERTHSHIRE’S ROMAN PAST CAN BOOST LOCAL TOURISM Perthshire’s Roman past was raised in the Scottish Parliament after Mid-Scotland and Fife Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser called on Historic Scotland and the SNP Government to do more to promote Roman history in Scotland. In a parliamentary question to the Culture Minister Michael Russell, MSP Murdo Fraser asked the Scottish Government what action it is taking to promote Roman history in Perthshire. In response, the Culture Minister stated: “Scottish Ministers, through Historic Scotland, maintain four Roman sites in Perthshire, including three of the Gask Ridge watchtowers. These sites are featured in our members handbook, which has a distribution of 70,000 and in our ‘Sites Guide’, 4,000 of which are sent to media and stakeholders. Their on site interpretation has been recently replaced incorporating up-to-date research and of course it is recognised that they are only a part of the picture for Roman Perthshire; the broader interpretation of their role within Roman Scotland is covered in publications such as ‘Roman Scotland’, by David Breeze and published by Historic Scotland and Batsford Books, reprinted in 2000. “In addition Historic Scotland has recently provided grant support for an important conference held in Perth (and proceedings recently published as ‘First Contacts’), organised by Tayside and Fife Archaeological Committee into the earliest Roman presence in Scotland, looking at archaeological evidence which may show contacts a decade or more before the normally accepted date of the first Roman presence in the north.” Murdo wants the Scottish Government to create a National Roman Centre in an area of Scotland that has strong links to Scotland’s Roman past, such as Perthshire, to promote Scotland’s Roman past. Commenting, Murdo said: “Perthshire has a rich Roman past and there are several important Roman sites in our local area. We must ensure that our Roman sites that are maintained by Historic Scotland and by private owners across Scotland are preserved for future generations. “I want the Scottish Government to do more to promote Roman history and I believe that the next step is to create a National Roman Centre in Scotland. If we have a National Roman Centre, then we could eventually have thousands of people coming to Scotland to visit our ancient Roman sites. Furthermore, a National Roman Centre can be used as a base for our youngsters to learn about Scotland’s Roman history and I believe that Perthshire would be the perfect setting for a national centre. I hope that the Scottish Government will use Perthshire’s wealth of Roman connections to the benefit of the local area. “The impact and contribution of the Romans coming to Scotland hundreds of years ago cannot be understated and Scotland is home to some amazing and ancient Roman sites. We must protect and preserve our ancient Roman sites in Scotland and use our sites as an education tool to get Scotland’s youngsters interested in our past.” ENDS   back to top of page