Vindolanda Site

An auxiliary fort, Vindolanda predated Hadrian's wall. A fort existed here in 85 CE, was rebuilt in 95 CE, demolished and rebuilt in stone before 122 CE, destroyed and was rebuilt in stone 208-211 CE, rebuilt in 300 CE, and was left in 410 CE.It is managed by the Vindolanda Trust solely and not assisted by any other organization. The official site is here.

All these rebuilds and demolitions is probably why archeologists have discovered, in the last month, thousands of finds buried by sediment and Roman concrete in 120 CE just before the third rebuilding and the first one in stone. A longer article is here.

The site is quite extensive. We blew through it and the museum in a little over an hour, because it was closing then, but we could have spent another hour here easy. The heather on the hills was a nice backdrop

A plaque to the Roman soldiers who were here.

This was the barracks that were recently excavated, as mentioned above. There was a sign here saying that they were going to take apart and put together parts of the structure that needed repair with NHL 5 lime mortar. They got more than they bargained for by digging under the Roman concrete.

Mock-ups of a Roman turret and milecastle!

  They also have a mockup of a Roman pottery kiln.

Part of the bathhouse

Headquarters

On this spot a child's remains, aged 9-11, was found and was buried here between 213 and 250 CE. It appears to have been murdered. The crime and reason for burial in the barracks is unknown. A longer article is here.

A Dolichenum or temple to Jupiter Dolichenus.

Workshops

Wells and water tanks outside the fortress and town area. They would be channeled here with stone aqueducts and/or timber pipes.

A Romano-Celtic temple to celebrate local and Roman gods.