Vindolanda

Vindolanda is a place I visited with my old enemy friend Heidi in 2008. It is the site of a huuuuge Roman fortress, with an accompanying village - well, not one but at least NINE of 'em. The earliest ones were built in wood, but the last few in stone. They had slightly different layouts and some of the earliest incarnations covered three times as much as the latest ones.

Since my last visit, they had received several million pounds in funds from the British lottery and the guy who sold me tickets almost wet himself with excitement when he talked about all the new gadgets and stuff they had nowadays down at the museum. He was also going on about some tablets. I just smiled and nodded as if I had any idea what he was talking about.

The grounds were much as I remember them, with lots of foundations and an experimental section where they've rebuilt a small part of the wall. Farther down, they had sculptures and stuff and yes, a hugely rebuilt and expanded museum. I gotta hand it to them, they've made good use of the lottery money. Sadly, you'll have to take my word for it, as they have a no photo policy in the museum.

As for the tablets, they're apparently some of the most historically important things ever found in Britain from Roman times. They number in the hundreds and range from tiny fragments to bigger slabs of writing, covering a wide range of subjects. They keep discovering more all the time. The soil at Vindolanda is perfect for finding this stuff, because the wet, marshy lands uhm... I think... the mud and... they're buried deep and and and. Uhm. Sumfin' about no oxygen, THAT I'm positive on. Yeah. You can tell I'm not a scientist.

Anyways, the old stuff is in pretty good condition when it's dug up and they take it to preservation immediately. What this entails I have no inkling of; it could be anything from putting them in fluids or dry-freezing 'em to dancing around nekkid and sacrificing chickens by the full moon. Come to think of it, maybe a no photo policy isn't so bad after all.

All pics here.

What they're digging up already is a quite large area. According to the narrator of a movie they show, they think there's enough stuff in the grounds to keep digging for another 200 years.


Replica of a stone fort.


Replica of a wooden fort.


The baths.


Down by the museum, shop & cafe building.


It is SO idyllic down here, where they've built some replicas of statues and a whole little temple. Awwww.


The wonderful Northumbria landscape.


I know the old Celts worshipped trees. Might as well, when they're as good looking as these.




This is one of the most iconic images in all of Britain. Variously known as Sycamore Gap or "The Robin Hood Tree" it was featured in "Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves". Yes, the one with Kevin Costner.