Inchtuthil Bath House
Inchtuthil Bath House
The Bath House at Inchtuthil would have been of great importance to the soldiers of Legion XX Valeria Victrix. Baths were part of day-to-day life for the Romans.
Today bathing tends to be a private activity carried out at home, but for the Romans it was a communal activity. For the soldiers at Inchtuthil the Bath House would have been a place for exchanging news, story telling and even keeping warm.
The building of the Bath House would have required outstanding engineering skills. Baths required a water supply and a way of heating the water and the building. A furnace with a constant supply of fuel was needed while a hypocaust system carried the heat around the building.
The Bath House at Inchtuthil was located to the south east of the main fortress, near to the River Tay for the water supply. Due to the risk of fire, it was common for the Bath House to be an annexe separate from other buildings.
It appears that some members of Legion XX Valeria Victrix had experience of building Bath Houses and that their expertise was required at other locations.
In the Museum at the Roman Baths in Bath are the remains of a statue depicting a boar, the symbol of Legion XX. It is, therefore, thought that Legion XX participated in the building of the Roman Baths in Bath.
An inscribed building stone found at the Bearsden Bath House indicates that Legion XX played a part in the building of that one too.Bearsden is the best preserved Bath House in Scotland.
For a plan showing the location of the Bath House and photos of the excavation visithttps://www.culturepk.org.uk/museums-galleries/collections/ then click on Search the Catalogue now then Search Inchtuthil.