INVERESK
Musselburgh, Scotland.
Roman
fort and settlement guarding a harbor at the point where
the roads from York and Chester converged on the Firth
of Forth. In 1565 part of a structure with a hypocaust
and an altar dedicated by an imperial procurator were
discovered, and later an external bath house E of the
parish church, but it was not until 1946 that excavation
in the graveyard located the fort itself.
Measuring ca. 182 by 144 m over-all (2.7 ha), it was
defended by a massive clay rampart and a single ditch,
and faced W towards the crossing of the river Esk; the
internal buildings, including barracks and stables, were of
stone. Occupation appears to have begun ca. A.D. 140 and
to have continued, with one brief intermission, until the
late 2d c. The planning of the barracks and stables suggests that an ala quingenaria was in garrison. The bulk
of the extramural settlement lay S and E of the church,
probably as a ribbon development along streets leading
to the E gate of the fort. Air photography has also revealed several temporary camps, as well as a Romano-British field system, SE of the settlement.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Inventory of the Ancient & Historical
Monuments of Midlothian and West Lothian (1929) 90-93;
JRS 38 (1948) 81-82.
K. A. STEER
