In
1783 the remains of a Roman bath
were discovered when improving the
grounds at Inveresk House. A Hypocaust
remains which forms part of the
flooring and heating system for
the bath house. The bath house is
located about 800 feet (250
meters) outside the Roman fort
walls as shown in this aerial
view. There are four
short pillars supporting a thick slab
complete with Roman
Concrete. NOVA
recently constructed an ancient Roman
Bath on PBS. The bath house
was usually one of the first
buildings built wherever the
Romans went. This Inveresk bath house
was built shortly after the Hadrian's
Wall was constructed (122 -
138 AD). Hadrian's Wall
stretched from Newcastle to
Carlisle for a distance of 73
miles and was the first wall built
in this part of Britain.
Later the Antonine
Wall was constructed (142 -
143 AD) stretching west from near
Edinburgh for a distance of 39
miles and formed a part of a much
larger network of Roman defenses.
The fort at
Inveresk, measuring about 480 by
600 feet, is considered to have
been constructed at the time of and
to
be a part of the supply chain to
the Antonine
Wall, assuming that Roman
ships would disembark at the
harbour of Musselburgh
(Fisherrrow). The east end
of the Antonine Wall is considered
to be at Carriden
(Bo'ness) located about 21 miles
west from Inveresk. Inveresk
was then a part of the three forts
found in the Votadinian
tribal territory (Carriden,
Cramond and Inveresk).
The position of Inveresk may have
been significant since it clearly
is positioned near the end of the
180 mile long Dere
Street. Dere Street
linked the eastern part of
Hadrian's Wall with Inveresk .
Dere Street is a Roman road from
York which is now called A1 or A68
and was completed in 81 AD.
However the site was not occupied
after the Roman soldiers abandoned
the Antonine Wall according to Sir
Ian Richmond. The
Antonine fort had another bath
house just a few meters southeast
of the fort located at the present
site of the walled St. Michael's
House kitchen garden. Due to
its close proximity to the fort it
was probably used by the soldiers
of the Inveresk fort according to
Richmond in his work of 1946-47
above.
The 1979 aerial discovery of a
Flavian fort (79 to 87 AD) at
Elginhaugh less than two miles
away makes the presence of a
Flavian fort at Inveresk unlikely.
The second bath house located at
Inveresk House need not imply
another fort, but was probably a
part of the civilian
settlement which appears to have
been important and extensive.
The discovery of second century
coins during the excavation of the
bath house in 1783 makes a second
century date more likely. These
are from the 1980 notes of Dr.
William S. Hanson, Professor of
Roman Archeology - University of
Glasgow- which are a part of the
report of the late Sir Richmond
discussed above which was
published posthumously and edited
by Dr. Hanson.
According to the works of Hanson,
Maxwell, Breeze,
et al there were two periods
of Antonine occupation at Inveresk
which was consistent with Sir
Richmond's work in 1947.
This indicated that the fort
was...
Archeologists
are unsure of the year(s) when
the Wall was abandoned about
158 AD.
Specifically in 1983 according to
Dr.Hanson in his chapter 7
of "Rome's North West
Frontier" the departure of the
Romans in about 158 AD from
Inveresk was the result of the
Brigantes tribe becoming violent
in northern England near the Tyne
River. The final departure
in 164 AD was due to stretched
resources.
In this same book by Hanson and
Maxwell the true nature of
Inveresk was defined as a trading
village. Structures made of timber
and stone have been found on a
main street leading to the east
gate of the fort. Side
streets branched from this
street. This extraordinary
civilian settlement was known to
have come to the attention of the
Roman supreme financial
administrator of Britain.
This shows that the Roman treasury
was interested in the business
activity in Inveresk. The
administrator may have considered
the street now known as Inveresk
Village in a manner much like
"High Street" for all the pottery
and other wares available. The
first and last thoughts of the
soldiers at Fort Inveresk would
probably have been on the subject
of accommodation and food, not to
mention the demands of other
equally urgent appetites. Other
commercial activity has also been
discovered perhaps including a
tavern or hotel. In recent
times aerial photography has
revealed a pattern of rectangular
fields and enclosures southeast of
the fort. Such a
pattern has only been discovered
in one other place on the Antonine
Wall.
The Antomine Wall and
its outpost forts
(from "Rome's NW Frontier" by
Hanson and Maxwell - 1983)
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