Monday, May 03, 2004

New Interpretation Panels Installed at Roman Fort of Cramond

"Between 208 and 212AD, the African-born Roman Emperor Septimus Severus chose Cramond as a key base to lead the last major campaign of Roman conquest in Scotland.

In the last years of his reign, Severus travelled to Scotland where there were uprisings against the Roman Empire. He restored Hadrian's Wall and helped to strengthen the Romans' power in Britain again.

Severus built his fort on an existing Roman military settlement which was established around 140AD during earlier campaigns. He died in 212AD in York.

Now, new interpretation panels provide visitors with a fascinating insight into life at the 1800-year-old fort near Cramond Kirk, which was designed to help protect the empire's western flank, and at the nearby bathhouse, described as one of the best surviving Roman buildings north of the Border. The remains of the Roman fort are explored in detail on three of the information panels, which focus on the occupation of the fort during the third century AD.

The panels depict the fort within the landscape of the time, showing the harbour and also the large defended settlement attached to the fort’s eastern side.

The Roman remains are described by archeologists as of 'huge historical importance', and sit close to the River Almond site where a ferryman discovered the celebrated Cramond Lioness."

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