Hadrians Wall

[PhilusEstilius]

I was out in the countryside yesterday and on my way home I called in at Chesters fort and was very sad to see that since all the financial cutbacks the grass on the site was looking a little like a wilderness without there being any groundsman as in the days when I worked there surely this is a sad situation indeed for what UNESCO considered to be a World Monument.

[Kegluneq]

I was out in the countryside yesterday and on my way home I called in at Chesters fort and was very sad to see that since all the financial cutbacks the grass on the site was looking a little like a wilderness without there being any groundsman as in the days when I worked there surely this is a sad situation indeed for what UNESCO considered to be a World Monument.

Overgrowth seems to be endemic at HW forts, although Chesters should be easier to keep clear than, say, Housesteads.

Anyone had a chance to see the new exhibit of the Hoard at Corbridge? Saw on the Per Lineam Valli Twitter feed that the official unveiling had taken place, hopefully after the display had already been in place for a few weeks...

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

No, not yet. Hopefully I will when I get up there in a couple of weeks.
You would think it would be a good investment to hire one, as it will not do it's reputations much good if people are missing things due to knee high grass obscuring things!

[Vindex]

Ther always used to be sheep grazing whenever I went to Chesters (a few years ago now though). Probably stopped by 'elf and Safety... :roll:

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Hmmm, we get the blame for everything! :roll:

Probably sold the sheep, had a barbecue at the taxpayers expense, and now too cheap to pay for the grdeners..(or new sheep) I remember a few horses being kept there last time I was there. (2009)

[Kegluneq]

There were certainly sheep when I went early last month, although I don't know if they were grazing on the site itself. Perhaps it's just been a good year for growing grass? :/

[PhilusEstilius]

When I first began to work with EH I did two days at Housesteads and the same at Chesters each week, this was at the time when both sites had their own groundsmen who were not just grass cutters but looked after all aspects of the sites.

Then due to financial cuts EH got rid of them along with half of the hole in the wall gang and things just began to get shabby from then on, they hired contractors who only came along once a month hence the long grass and broken fences and this is a World Heritage Monument that should not be in such a state of neglect.

It is very much the same at the next fort along the line at Procolitia where they advertize Coventinas Well and that is no more than a swamp that one would need Wellington boots to be able to get near at all I think a re-excavation would be a good thing here to justify their statements of what it is.
In fact as I have mentioned earlier a bit more excavation might just reveal why this monument has a western entrance to it.

[Vindex]

Quick peek at the Corbridge Hoard

Not a very good picture for the purists perhaps but you get the idea...

[Robert Vermaat]

Hmmm, we get the blame for everything! :roll:

Of course! When everything's OK you're the spoilsports, when something goes wrong you didn't do your lob! A classic lose-lose situation (I know what you mean though).

Too bad about the crisis, but you see it everywhere. Over here they put barbed wire around the Roman tower, closing it to the public.

[PhilusEstilius]

Chesters is our first view of a Roman Fort on Hadrian's Wall however there are many other features of the wall that are of great interest, such as Limestone Corner that is on the top of Walwick Fell to the west of Chesters and indeed is the most northerly point of Hadrian's Wall.
This particular area has raised more questions than answers for a few centuries now but then one answer that I would give about it is exactly one Roman Mile to the west and that is the later fort of Procolitia.
In having said that I do think that there were definate reasons for why the ditch was not completed and the most curious directions that the wall takes at this place and also why the Romans built their fort one mile to the west.