We have been learning all about the Romans for our Home Ed topic the last few weeks. We are now finishing the topic this week, so today we headed to Housesteads Roman Fort. It is quite a large site but for me it is fascinating as it has a hospital block. This was unusual for forts so it is great to see how they used something like a hospital.
Housesteads lies midway along Hadrian's Wall, in fact you can get rather close to the wall here. It is the most complete Roman Fort in Britain and is pretty impressive.
Housesteads is Free entry to English Heritage members and National Trust members as it is owned by National Trust but managed by English Heritage.
The car park is fairly large and upon entering the was around 6 cars in the car park. You are greeted by staff who point you in the right direction. If you need to use the toilet there are clean warm toilets before you set off on your adventure.
The walk to the fort is around 15 minutes on a gravel path and is quite steep in some places, this was no problem for us but could be an issue for those who may have mobility issues. We headed over to the Museum to show our tickets and looked around the museum first before the fort. Here you will find hand sanitiser, lots of goodies in the shop and some really interesting facts and finds (check out the leather sole from a shoe, it's larger than I expected.) The boys loved looking at the model of what the fort would have looked like.
We only bought a guide book this time for our collection, then we left the shop and headed into the fort.
There is a gravel path and then some steps, once you are in the fort it is over grass terrain and gravel paths. What we really love is the info boards which have a paragraph about each section and a smaller section for the younger audience, I think this is a great idea and holds Elliot's attention (he likes to read them out loud).
At Housesteads you will find:
* Hospital
* Granaries
* Baths
* Headquarters
* Commanding officer's house
* Latrines
* Hadrian's Wall
* Milecastle (Around 20 minute walk through the trees from the fort)
* Spectacular views
* Museum
* Shop
* Toilets
* Tearoom
Need to know
*Face coverings must be worn indoors.
*Hand sanitiser is available
*National Trust and English Heritage members are free to enter (Non members family of 5 is £25.80)
*Booking is a must
*Parking charges apply (£3 for 3 hours) Even if you are a member.
*Toilets are open and have a queuing system in place
*The museum is open and a one way system is in place
*Shop is open
*Guide books £3.50
Check out these posts