Gable-ornament (antefix) bearing a gorgon's head, a protective and evil-averting symbol. Most buildings in the Roman fortress of Caerleon would have been roofed in heavy tiles. Large quantities of roofing tile, antefixes and bricks were produced by the legion for use in the fortress. The kilns were probably located near the River Usk. Caerleon, 'City of the Legion', was known to the Romans as Isca. Established in AD 74 or 75, Isca was one of the three permanent legionary bases in Roman Britain: the other two were at Chester (Deva) and York (Eberacum). The fortress, sited at the lowest bridging-point across the River Usk, held a key position in the military road system in South Wales. Its garrison, as inscriptions tell us, was legio II Augusta, a body of heavy infantry comprising well over 5,000 men. The legion finally departed from Caerleon at the end of the third century.

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