The Roman fort or station at Cramond was known to the Romans as Alaterva, according to a stone altar dug up in the grounds of Cramond House that is dedicated to 'the mothers of Alaterva and of the fields', the Latin inscription reading Matribus Alatervis et Matribus Campestribus.
In the centuries that followed the end of the Roman occupation, Cramond passed into the hands of the Votadini, who spoke Cumbric, a Brythonic Celtic language, and gave the settlement its name. Cramond is derived from the compound Caer Amon, meaning 'fort on the river', referring to the Roman fort that lay on the River Almond.
Around 142, Roman forces arrived at Cramond by order of Emperor Antoninus Pius, who had given them the task of establishing a fort at the mouth of the River Almond. This fort would guard the eastern flank of the frontier that the Romans had established across Scotland. Nearly five hundred men worked on the site, building a fort that covered nearly six acres and a harbour for communication. However, the fort was only inhabited for a short time, perhaps fifteen years, before it was abandoned by the troops who were ordered to retreat south to Hadrian's Wall. Pottery and coins of later date indicate that the fort and harbour were reinhabited and used as a base for the army and navy of the Emperor Septimus Severus, sometime between 208 and 211.
Though knowledge of the Roman presence at Cramond was recorded afterwards, the remains of the fort itself were only rediscovered in 1954. Substantial archaeological research was carried out upon its discovery to build up a reasonably accurate picture of the site in Roman times. The fort was rectangular in shape, with walls fifteen feet high on all sides. A gatehouse was set in every wall, allowing access in all four directions. Inside, there were barracks, workshops, granaries, headquarters and the commander's house. Later excavations revealed other constructions outside the boundary of the fort, including a bath-house, further industrial workshops and a native settlement.
Roman Fort
The foundations of the Roman Fort were partly covered by the chapel first built in Cramond in the 600s. This in turn has successively been developed into the current Cramond Kirk. The building you see today was built in 1656, reusing a tower from the 1400s. There have been at least three rounds of rebuilding and renovation over the intervening centuries.
Cramond Kirk
In 1997 the Cramond Lioness was uncovered in the harbour mud by a local boatman (who received a substantial monetary reward for finding this major antiquity), and was identified as a sandstone statue of a lioness devouring a hapless male figure, probably one of a pair at the tomb of a military commander. After conservation, the statue was displayed in the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. It is one of the most ambitious pieces of Roman sculpture to have survived in Scotland.
Lioness
A big thanks to Big Wolf, who gave me the container for this cache as a Christmas present.