Housesteads Roman Fort ***
© Copyright Neil Theasby and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
Description:
Open year-round and perched high on a dramatic escarpment along Hadrian’s Wall, this incredible site offers a journey back to the Roman Empire. Stroll through the barrack blocks and hospital, peek into ancient communal Roman toilets, and take in breathtaking panoramic views of this World Heritage Site from the fortress. The interactive museum displays artifacts once owned by Roman soldiers, while the mini-cinema whisks you through centuries of history. Built in stone around AD 124, the fort was repaired and rebuilt many times, with its northern defences especially prone to collapse. To the south lay a large civil settlement (vicus), where remnants of stone foundations remain, including the infamous “Murder House,” where two skeletons were found beneath a recently laid floor during excavation.
© Copyright Oliver Dixon and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
In the 2nd century AD, the garrison included an unidentified double-strength auxiliary infantry cohort along with a detachment of legionaries from Legio II Augusta. By the 3rd century, it was made up of Cohors I Tungrorum, reinforced by the numerus Hnaudifridi and the Cuneus Frisiorum, a Frisian cavalry unit named for its wedge-shaped formation. The Tungri were still stationed there in the 4th century, as noted in the Notitia Dignitatum, but by 409 AD the Romans had withdrawn.