Vindolanda Day 0: Arrival

Posted on April 21, 2024  •  3 minutes  • 467 words

This is part of a series where I document my time volunteering at an archaeological dig in North England in April 2024. Have a look at some of the other posts to see some of the cool things I got up to.

The day to head to Vindolanda Roman Fort for some archaeological volunteering has finally come. Even getting here is a bit of an adventure - we don’t live anywhere close to Hadrian’s wall!

There are a couple of options for getting to Vindolanda and I chose one of the harder ones. Most of the journey was by rail (up to Newcastle, then across to Bardon Mill). The second half was much more pleasant than the LNER train to Newcastle (some other services had been cancelled so it was over-full). I didn’t budget sufficient time for the changeover and only just made my connection, as the first train was running twenty five minutes late. When it comes to UK trains, you can never leave enough slack!

Once at Bardon Mill I set off on the hike to Vindolanda proper. Its a short-ish hike over one or two hills along tarmac, bridle paths and mud roads. My phone thought it would take about an hour, but I ended up managing it with my overnight pack in about 40 minutes.

It was a pleasant hike through typically beautiful British countryside. I wouldn’t suggest it unless you are in decent walking or hiking gear: sturdy shoes and waterproofs for the drizzle.

That drizzle started to look as if it might bucket at any point so I stopped briefly to put the water cover on my pack and headed onwards. As you can see, I was glad that it didn’t pour down!

Once I arrived at Vindolanda and settled into the accommodation (you can book a room with the dig, if you are willing to shell out for it), I took a brief stroll up a nearby hill. Just outside the entrance to the museum area, there’s the old Roman milestone . Unfortunately I don’t know much about this object, except that “… the Minister of Works has been constituted guardian of this monument … " according to the severe sign erected near it.

Heading into the field behind the milestone, affords an excellent view of the fort:

You can see the replica ramparts in the background as well as the vicus to the right. The stone walls on the North East (closest to camera) are magnificent and beautifully preserved.

Confusingly, the quadrant of the fort we will be working on (the closest in the photo) still appears turfed over. Since we are the second group of excavators this season the other diggers and I were surprised: will we be clearing turf tomorrow? We will just have to find out…