Habitancum

The fort was built in the early Antonine period c. 138 AD when the frontier was re-established further north on the Antonine Wall. It was destroyed in c. 197 AD but was rebuilt under Septimius Severus by the First Cohort of Vangiones (nominally one thousand strong) in 205-8 on a different orientation to which the surviving earthworks belong. The fort was destroyed again in the late 3rd century and rebuilt under Constantius about 306. It was destroyed in 343, rebuilt and finally destroyed in about 368.

It is oblong in shape and measures 450 ft north to south, and 400 ft east to west, giving an area of just over 4 acre. It was surrounded by a number of ditches, which can still be seen on the south and west sides. The fort had gates in the south and west walls. There may have been gates in the other walls but no sign of them has been found. The walls were of sandstone ashlar, backed by a clay bank thirty feet thick. There was a substantial vicus (civil settlement) as testified by the numerous inscriptions.