Tony
Henderson, award-winning Environment Editor of The
Journal and author of the new book My Country: Discovering North East England,
on the spell cast by
IT would seem
eminently sufficient for the region simply to have Hadrian’s Wall – an
astonishing monument which marks the northernmost limit of the
But there is
so much more than the Wall itself and the forts which stud its length.
Add to that
the often breathtaking setting of this world heritage site and the many ways in
which we can feel the presence of the men and women
who lived, worked and fought along the frontier all those centuries ago.
The rugged
landscape along the central section of the Wall in Northumberland has changed
remarkably little.
We can enjoy
much the same sweeping views as did the Romans, such as the giddying glance
into the gorge of the River Irthing at Birdoswald fort near Gilsland, or
from the heights of the Whin Sill ridge on which much
of the Wall is perched and which provides the
backdrop to jaw-dropping vistas like Crag Lough.
Walk north to
the Ice Age lakes of Greenlee and Broomlee loughs –hearing the same sounds of curlew and skylark as
people then did - and look back at the Wall from the “enemy” side.
Archaeological evidence suggests they would have been confronted by a Wall
whitewashed for maximum visual impact which gave out the message: “Don’t mess
with us.”
But the stunning sights are not confined to the wide
open spaces. Segedunum (meaning Strong Fort) at Wallsend, in urban Tyneside, has a functioning replica
Roman bath house based on that at Chesters fort in
Northumberland.
It is framed
by the giant shipyard cranes behind – a dramatic
contrast which speaks of two civilizations.
At the fort
there is also a memorial bearing the names of 129 Romans known to have worked
on building the Wall, taken from inscription stones left by the work gangs
after completing their section.
There are
tantalising tastes of the cosmopolitan flavour of the Wall –
such as the tombstone erected at Arbeia
fort in South Shields by Barates, from the desert
city of
A detachment
of Tigris Bargemen from modern
We know that
the garrisons of forts along the Wall were Batavians, raised in
What must
life have been like at the outpost fort of Bremenium
(Place of the Roaring Stream), near Rochester, the most northerly base in the
empire, where scouts were employed rather like the Indians working for the US
cavalry and a giant catapult was needed for protection?
It is in this
wilderness that a Roman senator’s daughter, Julia Lucilla,
found herself after marrying a career officer called Rufinus
who served as the fort’s commander. Their details are recorded in the tombstone
she commissioned for him.
But it is
from Vindolanda fort that we hear most clearly the
voices from almost 2,000 years ago.
There is the
essay in disappointment which was found during excavations of a ditch – a
barrel of largely unopened oysters thrown away because they were inedible and a
case of beautiful Samian ware pottery from
Finds have
included the hairpiece – made from moss – which is believed to have been worn by Lepidina, the
wife of fort commander Flavius Cerialis, to
fend off insects like midges.
But the best
direct line with the past is through the 1,700 writing tablets found at Vindolanda, which include a birthday party invitation,
allocations of beer, a reference to the “nasty little Brits”, a letter saying
that 20 pairs of socks and two pairs of underpants have been despatched,
shopping lists, expenses claims and a writer who informs us that he is penning
the missive while “I am keeping the bed warm.”
Beer and
expenses, socks and underpants – nothing changes, not least the wonder that is
the Wall.
.