Official Website of Hadrian's Wall Country

Segedunum is the gateway to the eastern end of the Wall - just as it has been since it was first home to 600 soldiers. It’s at Wallsend (get it? how appropriate is that!) and is the most excavated fort anywhere along the Wall. One of the key places to visit if you want to come away feeling enthused and informed, it has spectacular reconstructions, a viewing tower and even a Roman Radio Show audio guide for children.

Once covered by colliery buildings and then terraced housing, Segedunum now gives a fabulous insight into the hows, whys and wherefores of Roman life. The aptly named Roman Gallery is modelled on the courtyard of the original Fort’s headquarters building. There’s a great interactive virtual tour, which gets you into different buildings, and a model so detailed that it’s not hard to imagine yourself there.

The full-size Roman Bath reconstruction is based on original remains discovered at Chesters (further west on the Wall and easily viewable to see how well the reconstructors did!). The Baths are pretty well preserved at Chesters but it really is something to see a full reconstruction, right down to the frescos, hot and cold plunge baths, and loo. And do you remember how school projects on the Romans were always obsessed with the underfloor heating system (isn’t it called a ‘hypocaust’? See, some of us listened). Well, here it is - the Roman underfloor heating system that is so ‘in’ nowadays. Some things have already been done (to perfection) ….

Looking down from the centrepiece 35-metre viewing tower, you get stunning views of the excavated fort, including an original section of the Wall and a reconstruction. Plus, there’s an amazing computer-generated story of Wallsend from Roman times and the building of the Fort through to the growth of heavy industry such as shipbuilding on the Tyne. Your gaze will rest on remains representing one of the most completely excavated forts anywhere in the Roman Empire. Yes, that’s right – anywhere. That’s staggering: the Roman Empire stretched to the present-day Middle East, north Africa, across eastern and western Europe, and one of the most complete excavations is right here in England. You have to ask yourself why you haven’t been here before.