Peel Gap: The Oddball Turret of Hadrian’s Wall
By Crasterfarian The original layout of Hadrian’s Wall is famed for its order, or it was until they decided to add the forts but, in its… Read More »Peel Gap: The Oddball Turret of Hadrian’s Wall
Penbal Wizard
Housesteads: How Rome Changed the British Diet
By Crasterfarian We’ve read a lot recently in articles I’ve written about the importance of water to the Romans. The aqueducts at Cilurnum (Chesters) and Aesica… Read More »Housesteads: How Rome Changed the British Diet
Seven Castles in One View — Ros Castle Trig Point and Hillfort, Northumberland
By Crasterfarian This first picture is looking south into the low winter sun, down over Blawearie and several other Iron and Bronze Age hillforts. Fascinatingly, the… Read More »Seven Castles in One View — Ros Castle Trig Point and Hillfort, Northumberland
Brocolitia: Sacred Springs and Frontier Faith
By Crasterfarian In previous articles, we’ve explored the layered religious landscape of the Roman North — from the reused pagan site at Hartburn, where Dr. Sharpe… Read More »Brocolitia: Sacred Springs and Frontier Faith
High and Dry: Why Housesteads Should Have Been Built Elsewhere
By Crasterfarian Housesteads Roman Fort, perched high on the Whin Sill, is one of the most iconic sites on Hadrian’s Wall. Its dramatic position, panoramic views,… Read More »High and Dry: Why Housesteads Should Have Been Built Elsewhere
The Lost Aqueduct of Aesica: A Roman Marvel in Northumberland
By Crasterfarian We’ve all stood in awe of the grand Roman aqueducts that still rise across the landscapes of Europe: feats of precision engineering that carried… Read More »The Lost Aqueduct of Aesica: A Roman Marvel in Northumberland
The Pagan Path Beneath Our Feet
An Exploration of Hartburn, Warkworth & Woodhorn By Crasterfarian Across Northumberland’s rivers and roads, clues linger, carved in stone, hidden in caves, worn into the… Read More »The Pagan Path Beneath Our Feet
Walbottle’s Ghost of the Vallum
By Crasterfarian It’s all around us. History seeps from every inch of our land. Sometimes it’s visible, other times its very subtle. At first glance,… Read More »Walbottle’s Ghost of the Vallum
Fire, Plague and Buried Treasure
By Crasterfarian Linking the Burning of Vindobala, the Antonine Plague and the Milecastle 13 Hoard Vindobala (modern Rudchester), constructed around AD 125 and manned by the… Read More »Fire, Plague and Buried Treasure
Vindobala and Its Giant’s Grave
By Crasterfarian Vindobala / Rudchester This fort lies around 11km west of Condercum Fort at Benwell. That’s a good stretch between forts and is the second… Read More »Vindobala and Its Giant’s Grave