England Day 14 (28 June 2018)

Before I get to our incredible day, let’s just talk for a moment about the heat wave that has been following us. Because it has been so warm, the plants and pollen have been going crazy, helping my allergies to kick my trash.  However, I’m not a quitter, and have used three packs of tissues and taken allergy pills at least once a day. Where is the glorious rain?  Not here. 

Alright, today was all about Hadrian’s wall!  It is astounding to me how something that was built a few thousand years ago has withstood the test of time. Here are a few things I learned about Hadrian:  He chose to create the wall, though it wasn’t his original idea.  The Romans gave up trying to conquer the ‘Barbarian Scots.’  The wall took eight years to build and was six meters high!

After you park your car, and pay in the visitor’s center, it’s a 10 minute walk up to the museum. It’s a blood pumping, we are going to help you sneak in some exercise, 10 minutes. However, the views were commanding!

We first went in to the little museum to gather a little history on the fort and the Romans who lived here. They had some interesting artifacts too. 

After a short film, we headed over to the fort itself. It was pretty impressive!  Housesteads was home to 800 soldiers as well as officers. Here is some of the walk up to the fort:

It really was incredible to walk the grounds. There were a few groups of school kids on a field trip, which cracked me up. But overall, it was awesome!

Housesteads has the best preserved latrine system from Roman times in Britain. The sewer system that was used here is the same type of one they use currently in York today. Not sure how I feel about communal toilets, but they must have worked for them!

Every where you look, it feels like the view will continue for miles!  It almost feels like the foundations of the buildings are steeped in stories which are just waiting to be discovered. I also learned that they had double gates to help move soldiers in and out quickly. (I’m standing in one of the gates in the 3rd photo).

 I also learned that the soldiers cooks for themselves. (Refer to the 5th picture with a curved stone structure, this was an oven). Hadrian’s wall was the North wall of the Fort too (I’m standing near it in the 6th picture). 

After the Fort, we were able to hike up to Hadrian’s Wall. There is a section where you can walk on the wall, not just beside it, and It. Was. Awesome!

After walking the small section of Hadrian’s Wall, we made our way over to Vindolanda. It’s an active archeological site, and is supposed to be for the next 200 years. There were nine forts on this site in over 300 years, and it’s impressive!

If you stand still long enough, you can imagine the hustle and bustle that happened in this place!  There are great sections they have not yet started excavating, but what they have unearthed gives you a decent feel for life at this location and time. 

They have a museum that we walked down to, and were able to see all sorts of artifacts that they had uncovered. 

Probably the most impressive display for me was the shoe display!  How cool is that?!?

They had loads of interesting displays from daily life at Vindolanda, including the Vindolanda Writing Tablets and a pair of ancient boxing gloves!

On our way out, I took a few more pictures from the other side of the excavated area. When I was younger, I watched Indiana Jones and thought I wanted to be an archeologist for a minute. This place makes me feel like I could be one to help discover new secrets from the past!

We then made our way over to the Royal Army Museum. This place was really well done. There is a lot of information to learn and it is also pretty engaging!

Today was a day filled with Roman history blended into modern times. It was so interesting to learn about the information and imagine how these people and soldiers really lived at the ‘Edge of the Empire.’  It’s a day that will be well remembered!