Roman Antiquities - Northumberland

Located just north of the B6318 - Military Road at Carvoran.
The Roman Army Museum is housed in the 18th century farmhouse and associated buildings at Carvoran, a small settlement adjacent to the still buried Roman fort of Magna.
It is an excellent place to find out all about the Roman Army. Learn about the different sub-divisions of a legion, the military ranks, soldiers' duties, their armour and weapons.
More a museum of living reconstructions than excavated artefacts, there are excellent tableaux showing Roman arms and armour in great detail, along with explanatory videos and a model of the nearby fort.

There is also an excellent video show at this museum - of Hadrian's Wall as seen through the eyes of an eagle, and showing computer generated reconstructions of the various Roman sites along the central section of the Hadrian's Wall.

The superb Walltown Crags section of Hadrian's Wall is a hundred metres further to the north.
Follow signs to Walltown Quarry where there is a small visitors Centre with toilets, shelter and a small shop/cafe.

Bronze Roman bracelet found under the cycle path that is
being constructed at Greenhead, Northumberland!
Archaeologists are sifting the area where a Roman road
crosses the new off-road section of Hadrian's Cycleway.
The new path will eliminate the busy on road section up
Greenhead Bank but will still be just as steep!!

Located on Hadrian's Cycleway
Vindolanda was once a Roman frontier military and civilian site on the Stanegate line of defences. Substantial remains are visible and on display are rare and fascinating objects from the past, including Roman boots and shoes, jewellery, tools, locks and textiles.

Reconstructions of Hadrian's Wall show the Timber /Earth wall and the later Stone wall.

Special photographs of rare ink on wood letters, written nearly 2000 years ago, are also on show. The Open Air Museum has full sized replicas of a Roman Temple, a Roman shop, a Roman house, as well as a Northumbrian croft, all set in relaxing gardens.

Reconstruction of a Roman Temple

Sited a few mile to the north of Hadrian's Cycleway - this is one of the largest forts on Hadrian's Wall and well worth a visit.

The fort housed over 1000 troops and excavations at the fort have revealed four double-portalled gateways, the curtain wall with turrets, latrines and three barrack blocks.

At the centre are the most important buildings: the commanding officer’s house, headquarters building and hospital.

Click here. for an excellent website by Siôn McElveen about Housesteads Fort, which has extensive coverage and photgraphs about the remains to be found on the site.

Looking east along Hadrian's Wall

The Roman Latrines

Located about 1/2 mile from Hadrian's Cycleway to the north of Walwick Grange
Chesters Roman Fort is located along Hadrian’s Wall between milecastles 27 and 28.  First built around 122-123AD, the fort was built to hold a Calvary of 512 men and their horses, and maintained its purpose for about 300 years. It is located to the west of the crossing point over the River North Tyne.  

There are three main gates located on the north, east and west sides of the fort. The main wall of the fort was about five feet thick and fifteen feet high. More than a third of the fort projected north of Hadrian's Wall. 

Much of the fort today has been ruined with the portions of the interior building being exposed. The most interesting feature of the fort is the headquarters building.  “It measures 125 x 90 feet overall. The entrance, on the north side leads into the first part of thel headquarters, the open courtyard with surrounding colonnade.  Some of the original paving of the courtyard is still in position, a section in the north-west corner having a gutter or channel cut into it to carry away the run-off of rain from the colonnade roof.

Chesters Fort - Remains of the Bath House

The bath house is one of the features of why the fort is so famous. The bath-house was for all military personnel without regard for rank.  Like roman baths, the bath-house was used for other things than just bathing such as drinking, gaming and eating.  It had a cold rooms, warm rooms, and hot rooms.
The bath-house is 200 feet to the east of the fort on the west bank of the River North Tyne.

The replica Bath House at Segedunum is based on the remains found here and is mirror image.

The third and final part of the fort area is the roman bridge that crosses the River North Tyne.  Two out of the three piers can clearly be seen when the river is running low.  The third pier is hidden by the bank on the east side.  “The bridge which they carried was 20 feet wide, most of this being occupied by the Military Way, which after leaving the east gate of the fort gradually converged with the Wall so that both could make the crossing of the river at the same point.

Located on Hadrian's Cycleway
Corbridge Roman Site predates Hadrian's Wall, and was situated at the important crossroads of northbound Dere Street and the Stanegate running east to west along the Tyne valley.

It was the main town and supply base for the garrisons of the central sector.

The substantial remains of this excavated Roman settlement include the best example of a military granaries in this country.

Corbridge Lion - Fountainhead

The museum, built in the style of a Roman building, houses finds from the site, including the famous stone fountainhead - the Lion of Corbridge, and jewellery, ornaments and other domestic artefacts not so prevalent at the military sites on the Wall. Displays show the extent of the Roman conquest of Britain, and the expansion of the site over the years. A section of the Stanegate road can be viewed here

Roman roads were very carefully planned and constructed. The ideal road should have four layers the 'statumem' of large stones, the 'rudus' of smaller stones, the nucleus of fine gravel and finally a surface 'pavimentum'. Often the top surface would be gravel, rolled flat and smooth.