Hadrian's Wall- Photo by Susanna Sherwin
In May students from the Department of Classics and Archaeology enjoyed a wonderful three-day trip to the sites of Hadrian’s Wall (with a few medieval diversions).
Our whistle-stop tour started at St Paul’s monastery at Jarrow, famous as the home of the Venerable Bede, before taking us to the fort of Arbeia at South Shields and then to the temple of Mithras at Carrawburgh.
On the Saturday we were fortunate to be shown around the amazing site of Vindolanda by Dr Andy Birley, director of excavations, who introduced students to some of the latest finds. Vindolanda museum has one of the most extraordinary collections of materials from anywhere in the Roman world, including a remarkable array of leather shoes and, of course, the famous Vindolanda writing tablets.
From there we visited the fort of Housesteads (with students now used to identifying Roman granaries) after which we walked for several miles along the Wall, pausing at Sycamore Gap to pose in front of the tree made famous by Kevin Costner in "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves". To our surprise we didn’t get rained on and also came across an adder sunning itself next to the Wall.
En-route home on Sunday, we visited the fort at Chesters with its wonderfully preserved bath-house before a quick trip to Durham to see the extraordinary cathedral.
You can view more pictures on Instagram.
Posted on Friday 19th May 2023