Walking the Wall: An MA Adventure--- Prologue and Day 1

At last, I've gotten around to blogging about my trip on October 8-10th! I was quite thrilled to find out that the first weekend after school started, all the Rome and Its Neighbors MA students would embark on a journey up to and along Hadrian's Wall with our program director, Professor David Mattingly. Having picked up a copy of Mattingly's book and seen his name in National Geographic before coming over here, this was quite exciting. It also promised to be a good way to get to know all the other MA students in my program. Who happen to be entirely male.

There are only seven of us in the program. Three of us are Americans: myself, John from South Carolina, and Matt from California. Matt almost doesn't count, though, since he's been living in Rome the past few years, and is practically an honorary Italian. We also have an actual Italian in our group, Flavio, and Lee is representing the fine country of Spain (although he has lived in England for most of his life). There are only two Brits in our little program: David and Ian. Funny that we're mostly here to study the Romans in Britain, and so few of us are British. Guess the Brits get sick of all the Roman history they are put through in school!

My story doesn't actually begin on the day we leave, as I feel the ramp-up to the trip is equally important. We each had to prepare two short presentations on different sites along the wall, which wasn't too bad. We also received informational packets to read, to help us get an idea about what we would be seeing. Not bad. We also learned that boots were a necessity. So on Thursday, I set off in search of a good pair of Wellies. Harder task than I thought: I wandered about downtown Leicester, and searched the huge shopping mall without success. Then, I was pointed toward a lovely store called TK Maxx, where I found their shoe clearance section. By this point, I was feeling a little off, but I purchased my navy blue boots (8 pounds!!!) and trial sized shampoo and headed home.

I got a bit lost on the way home, but eventually made it. As soon as I got home, I tried to focus on getting ready, but really couldn't. For some reason, I wasn't feeling well. I had a headache, and was feeling pretty nauseous. Finally, I decided to lie down for a bit, and pack later... Minutes after my head hit the pillow, I was sprinting to the bathroom and emptying my stomach contents into the toilet. Over the next hour that I spent in my bathroom, all I could think of was "There is just no way I'm missing out on this trip!" When  I was sure the worst was over, I crawled back to bed, and set my alarm for 5am, hoping that I felt better in the morning.

The next morning, I woke up and felt fine. Words cannot describe how thankful I was. I even ate breakfast and felt fine. Strange mystery illness conquered! I threw things into my pack with some trepidation. It was only a three-day trip, but we would be getting quite dirty and gross during our trek, it sounded like. Then again, I didn't want to be teased as "the girl" who brings too much stuff. I ended up cramming all my stuff into my computer bag, with my Amsterdam bag for a purse/day bag. Pretty good, I thought.

When I arrived at the archaeology department, I saw a Land Rover waiting in the parking space. I blinked. 7 students, one professor, and one PhD student, on a four hour trip. In a Land Rover? I counted the seats. Two in front, bench seat for three in the middle, and four pull-down seats in the back. Oh my... I was about to become very close with my colleagues. We had to strap all the luggage down on the top of the Land Rover, carefully wrapped in tarps to keep out the rain. I was a bit relieved to find that I packed lighter than the boys. One point for feminine efficiency! We all piled in, and to my great amazement, there was enough room for everyone, but only just. It was... cozy!

 

On the way up to the wall, we had a packet and some books about Hadrian's Wall to read. That, and conversation kept us occupied on the trip up. We were very thankful for a stop about half of the way through, and untangled ourselves for a hit-and-run lunch and bathroom break. Then, it was back into the van for the rest of the trip up to the northeast end of the Wall.

Our first stop was South Shields, on the sea. The site was once the Roman fort of Arbeia, a few miles east of the end of the Wall. It guarded the entrance to the Tyne River from the North Sea, and was a major supply base. It had row after row of granaries in the fort. However, the first thing you notice when you arrive at the site is a gigantic reconstruction of what they think the main gate into the fort might have looked like. The reconstruction is probably a little extravagant; the real gate is unlikely to have been quite that tall and opposing. It made for an excellent view of the site, though.

This is what's left of the site: mostly just the foundations of buildings. You can see one of the granaries in the foreground. You can tell it's a granary because of all the little squares on the floor. Those were originally supports that held up the floor and created airspace underneath. This would have kept the grain dry and prevented rodents from getting in. In the top right corner of the photo, you can see reconstructions of the barracks and the commander's house. These stand right in front of the actual barrack foundations.



Beds for 8 soldiers: cozy!

Here's a closer shot of the barracks. Each of those blocks (represented by a door and window) would have housed 8 soldiers. The centurion would live on the end, and had bigger quarters to accommodate a family and slaves. Scholars used to think that soldiers couldn't have family, but there is growing evidence that they did, and even lived inside the fort in some places.

These are pictures from the inside of the commander's house. This is just a reconstruction based on a tentative amount of evidence. There might have been some wall painting (they've discovered a few little patches) but this recreation is probably a little too elaborate.

Still, it was very pretty and colorful. I particularly like the garden scene in the atrium! The commander had a much fancier place than the rank and file, but I guess those are the perks.
 



The site also had a great museum, with some very cool tombstones. One interesting one featured a woman who looks like a respectable Roman matron. The inscription on her stone, however, reveals that she was a slave, who was finally freed and married by her owner. That kind of thing was apparently quite common in Britain after the Roman conquest. The Romans often made a habit of enslaving some native people, and soldiers with enough money could buy a "companion." This guy appears to have gone out of his way to honor his wife properly after her death, which is kind of sweet, but there are still lots of power-imbalances that make the situation a bit uncomfortable.




After our adventure at South Shields/Arbeia, we piled back into the Land Rover and headed west to Wallsend, a few miles away. The place is aptly named. It represents the very end of Hadrian's Wall, and was once the fort of Segedunum.

This is a picture of the eastern end of the wall where it trails off. They didn't quite build it all the way to the sea, but I guess there wasn't too much of a problem in those few miles.


It seems like a somewhat anti-climatic end to such a massive monument, really.

Here's a reconstruction of the wall near Wallsend. They've found post-holes from some kind of timber posts. They are obviously some kind of anti-personnel measure, probably directing them toward an ideal area for the soldiers to control movement.

They've also used this portion of wall to test different construction methods. Some people even think the wall might have been plastered over originally. That would look pretty imposing!

 After walking along the wall and looking at the reconstructions, we headed up to the viewing tower. They had a really nifty computer program that showed how the site had changed through time, from the Iron Age to Roman times, all the way up to the shipyards that once stood here in the 1800s. Those shipyards are the reason there isn't much left but the foundations.

Wallsend also has a reconstructed bath house, which was modeled on the bath house found at Chesters, further along the wall. It was pretty spectacular. The walls inside were beautifully painted, some in brightly colored panels and one room was painted blue and covered with little paintings of sea creatures.Seeing the construction of the bath house was really cool. It's amazing how much technology the Romans had: enough to supply running water for a large public bath complex and the heating system to keep it all warm. This is a picture of the under-floor structure. The reddish-brown clay structures in the side of the wall are conduits for the heat. They funnel the steam under the floor, warming it. Brilliant!

By the time we were done exploring Wallsend, it was almost 4:30 or so. We were very ready to get settled in at the Youth Hostel and get some food. Back in the Land Rover... The guys all roomed together, and I shared a room with two other women. It was pretty comfortable, and when I needed to leave things behind, I left it in the guys room, since they were the only ones in there. Very useful.

The Hostel is called the "Twice Brewed", and the next door tavern is the "Once Brewed". We were very grateful for a pint and some food. The food there was epic. Fish and chips, meat with potatoes and vegetables, steak pie... Delicious! We stayed in the tavern for some time, discussing various issues, and finally stumbled back and fell into bed, getting some much needed sleep before the long Saturday ahead.