Hadrian's Wall 2011
On the last Friday of the Summer term the Form 1 pupils who study Latin and those Form 3 pupils who study Classical Studies, a party of thirty, boarded a bus to visit Hadrian’s Wall. 1600 years ago it was the last line of defence of the Roman empire, built along a naturally defensive line of rivers and crags between the modern cities of Newcastle and Carlisle.
First stop was the Roman Army Museum at Greenhead near Carlisle. We were greeted in Latin by a Centurion in full kit. The poor quality of his Latin, pointed out by Mr Meehan later, could perhaps be explained by his great distance from the centre of civilisation. He soon realised that he would have to revert to the Barbaric language of the natives to be understood by uncouth Scots from Dundee and in this language he told us about the pros and cons of army life. He soon had some volunteers being drilled by a very scary drill-sergeant - Miss Owens in armour.
The museum had been modernised since our last visit. A 3D film explained the building of Hadrian’s Wall, and new exhibits and artefacts explained the life of soldiers on the wall. Inspired by all this most of the party then went to the museum shop and bought wooden swords.
Then a short journey to the fort of Vindolanda and a talk by the archaeologist supervising the on-going excavations of the second century AD barrack blocks. Fascinating and unique archaeology was being found. A Temple to Jupiter Dolichenus had been found inside the fort, a murdered child under a bedroom floor, and the foundations of round huts either built by the African soldiers of the emperor Septimius Severus or by Scots refugees of the second century, as well as the stunning wooden and leather finds the site is famous for. Our pupils were clearly impressed by all this and asked many interested questions.
Here also was a newly refurbished museum displaying the fascinating wooden and leather finds, horse harnesses and peoples’ shoes, and the famous wooden writing tablets that given a written account of daily life in the fort. The visit was hardly long enough before we needed to return to Dundee.