Hadrian's Wall: Housesteads

Name: Hadrian's Wall: Housesteads
Brand: VoiceMap
SKU: 1012
Price: 7.99 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.8 (23 reviews)
Author: Gary

(23 reviews)

Northumberland audio tour: Hadrian's Wall: Housesteads

This is a 0.4mi walking tour

It takes an average of 45 mins to complete.

Northumberland

The United Kingdom

$7.99

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About the Tour

This is a guided tour around the ruins of Housesteads Roman Fort, one of the original forts built along Hadrian's Wall. On this tour I will show you where soldiers and civilians lived, and explain how to understand the remains of the best-preserved Roman fort in Northumberland.

Tour Producer

Gary Devore

2 tours

My name is Gary Devore and I am both an archaeologist and author. I have taught at universities in the United States and in the UK, and have led archaeological excavations at Roman forts in Britain and the ancient Italian city of Pompeii. I now teach classes online for Stanford University and write novels and short stories from a house I built in the woods of New Hampshire. My academic interests include Roman art, archaeology, and history. I have a long association and great interest in Hadrian's Wall and its associated archaeological sites. I consider Northumberland and Cumbria two of the most beautiful and striking areas of the UK and return as often as I can. I have a website for all contacts (including commission work) at garydevore.com and although I unfortunately share a name with a Hollywood screenwriter who died mysteriously in 1997, you can easily find my fiction and academic work with some online searching. I love hearing from anyone who enjoyed my audio tours on VoiceMap!

Preview Location

Location 1

Start: Welcome

Welcome to this walking tour of Housesteads Roman Fort. My name is Gary Devore. I’m an archaeologist and fiction author. I’ll be taking you around the remains of the fort, showing you where the ancient Roman soldiers lived, worked, and guarded the northern frontier of the Rom... Welcome to this walking tour of Housesteads Roman Fort. My name is Gary Devore. I’m an archaeologist and fiction author. I’ll be taking you around the remains of the fort, showing you where the ancient Roman soldiers lived, worked, and guarded the northern frontier of the Roman Empire.

You should be standing at the entrance to the museum building, just a little way away from the fort of Housesteads. The museum is made of old stone, with a small enclosed area in front.

Stay here for a while, as I tell you a bit about the history of the Housesteads fort. If you like, you could have a look in the museum while you listen. It's small, but it has a nice collection of artifacts archaeologists have excavated from the fort. But it's probably a better idea to wait until I'm done, so you can concentrate on reading the exhibit labels.

Housesteads Fort was built by Roman soldiers around the year 124 CE. Eighty-one years earlier, previous generations of soldiers sailed across the Channel and marched their armies into Britain. This was in the year 43. Roman troops subdued the southeast of the island pretty quickly for two reasons. Firstly, they brought an overwhelming military force. Secondly, back then, that part of Britain was already economically and culturally tied with mainland Europe. Wales and the North presented a different challenge, however. It took the better part of a century for the Romans to defeat the Welsh tribes and the native Britons up here, but uprisings and revolts were always a threat. And to the far north lurked wild tribes who had no desire to join the greater Roman Empire.

To secure this area of Britain from both periodic local troubles and the tribes to the north, the second century emperor Hadrian decided to build a massive stone wall here across the entire northern frontier. He staffed it with regularly spaced forts. Soldiers stationed in the forts could keep the peace, and strike off on campaigns to any trouble spots. Housesteads was one of the original forts built to staff the Wall. Its ancient name was Vercovicium. That may have come from an original native name for the hill that meant “high place”.

When you’re done looking around the museum, leave the building and turn so that it's behind you. Then walk straight and follow the demarcated path up to the fort.

Voicemap uses your phone’s GPS to play my commentary automatically as we go. You can plug in your headphones, put your phone away, and focus on the scenery and ruins around you. You’ll hear my voice again when you reach the next stop, and I’ll give you detailed directions of where to walk next. If you’re ever in doubt about where you are in the tour, you can consult the map ion your screen.

Keep following the path. I'll catch up with you when you pass the round stone well ahead. Read More

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Major Landmarks

Housesteads
Housesteads Roman Fort - Vercovicium - English Heritage Site
Housesteads Visitor Centre

Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
Bardon Mill, Hexham NE47 6NN, UK
Total distance

597m
Final location
55.01239932, -2.32951998
Distance back to start location

129.14m

Directions to Starting Point

We will begin our tour in the museum building on the site, which is located just to the southwest of the fort itself. If you are coming from the carpark, go through the modern tourist buildings managed by the National Trust and walk outside. A quarter-mile long path will lead you down into a valley and then up to the museum building managed by English Heritage. You will need an admission ticket to the fort, which you can acquire from either the National Trust or English Heritage staff, depending on your own membership affiliation. Tickets are between £4 and £7.

If you are coming from the Hadrian’s Wall path, leave the path and walk downhill along the western edge of the fort. You will come to the museum building.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

The only toilets and food on the site are down near the National Trust operated car park, so make sure you're prepared before you start the tour.

Best time of day

Any time of day is good for a visit. The fort and museum are open from 10am-6pm between 25 March and 30 September. In October, the site closes at 5pm, and in winter, 1 November – 31 March, it closes at 4pm. You will need at least an hour to go around the fort.

Precautions

In wet conditions, part of the fort can be slippery. Use caution on the grassy slopes.

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“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”