Visit Vindolanda Roman Fort On Hadrian's Wall, Northumberland, England

The Museum

At the bottom of the hill through some charming gardens with a small replica of a Roman Temple, you will find the compact and very accessible museum where you can marvel at the many discoveries unearthed from the site. Here you will find Vindolanda’s most famous treasures – the Vindolanda tablets discovered only in the past decade. These tablets are perfectly preserved notes and letters from people from Roman times written on very thin pieces of wood.

Each tablet is about the size of a modern postcard. The writing was done with a pen made from a reed and black ink. The tablets were then folded over to protect the writing and the address was written on the outside like a letter. They document business transactions, lists of things that have been ordered, like socks and beer and provisions, and there is even a birthday party invitation. Some of the original tablets are here in Northumberland but the rest are in the British Museum. They are kept in a cabinet with a specially regulated atmosphere so they don’t deteriorate. They are in Latin obviously, but you can read the translations and the daily details revealed are quite fascinating.

There is also a very nice cafe (they do a mean cheese and onion toastie) and a lovely shop with first-class fridge magnets and plastic armour for the younger visitor!

What else is in the museum?

Other things to see in the museum include lots of jewellery, some set with imported precious stones, pottery, many coins, and even thousands of ancient shoes. The shoes give some indication of the build of the wearers and many of the shoes are a size thirteen and larger so the soldiers stationed here were big strong men. They were not Italians but professional fighters from countries like France, the Netherlands and Belgium. One military tribe, the Batavians, who were part of the Roman army, were of Germanic origin, and were accomplished horsemen. They were said to have been able to swim with their horses in full armour. Always handy for a surprise attack! These auxiliary soldiers had to sign up to the Roman army for 25 years. However, if they were still alive after that, they were allowed to marry and become Roman citizens!

The Roman Army Museum

The Roman Army Museum is 7 miles (11 km) from Vindolanda and explains in more detail about the lives of these exceptional soldiers commissioned into the most famous army of all time. The museum is an interactive experience which is very informative and also lots of fun. It brings to life what these soldiers would have experienced on this northernmost frontier barrier of the Roman Empire. There is a hologram of the centurion Africanus who is trying to recruit new soldiers, and an award-winning 3D film ‘Edge of the Empire’ which gives us an eagle’s eye view of how the wall may have looked in its heyday when garrisons were positioned at every mile or so along the route.

Soldiers in the Roman army were drawn from all over the world and a group of specialist archers, the Syrians, also became part of the British garrison. You can even try your hand with one of their bows - their accuracy was legendary.