Edge of empire: Year 10 students visit Hadrian’s Wall as part of enrichment week 2024

Nine Year 10 students explored the furthest frontier of Rome’s empire, visiting four forts, four museums and walking along the most scenic section of Hadrian’s Wall.

This visit started with a panoramic view of Segedunum Roman Fort at Wallsend in Newcastle and ended halfway along the Wall at the fort of Magna, where we were able to watch live excavations, and where there is a state of the art Roman Army Museum, including the award winning 3D Edge of Empire film.

In between the students visited the auxiliary fort and vicus at Vindolanda where they received an insight into the domestic life of the 4th Cohort of Gauls, and their families, stationed there in the 2nd Century CE. One of the most affecting displays was a wall full of sandals, remarkably preserved by the peaty ground, and ranging in size from toddler to adult male. The students also learned about the Vindolanda writing tablets which give an insight into daily life at Vindolanda, and include the earliest example of a woman’s handwriting and such intimate details as an invitation to a birthday party and a request for an extra pair of socks.

The students also visited Housesteads Roman fort, from where they embarked upon a short but arduous hike along a particularly scenic section of Hadrian’s Wall, which featured the famous “Sycamore Gap”, now bereft of its striking tree.