Repair work to get underway at Segedunum Roman Fort

Work is set to get underway to repair Segedunum Roman Fort and Museum this week.

Recently, the site has suffered some damage as a result of theft of materials, which has made it more vulnerable to recent adverse weather conditions. North Tyneside Council has continued to work alongside Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (TWAM) to put a number of short-term repairs in place while developing ideas and bids for external funding and transformation of the museum and its offer. 

And now, following the settling of insurance claims for the damage and planning approval being granted, work will get underway on an initial set of repairs to the site. 

The funding secured will see the copper cladding at the main entrance replaced with steel seam cladding. The new cladding has no scrap value and this will deter further theft. 

Geoff Woodward, Manager of Segedunum Roman Fort, said: “We're delighted that this repair work is going ahead.  The impact of the damaged roof has been frustrating for our visitors and challenging for the front of house team.  It will be fantastic to see the roof restored and this popular World Heritage Site attraction back to normal.” 

The roof work is due to be completed by the end of August, with related minor repairs and redecoration then following on. Restrictions to access will be kept to a minimum so visitors can still enjoy the venue over the summer. 

Segedunum is managed for the Council by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums and has welcomed almost one million visitors from the local community and tourists from all over the world since it opened in June 2000. 

In AD 122, the Emperor Hadrian ordered a mighty frontier system to be built across Britain, designed to consolidate, and define the Roman Empire and help protect against raiding parties from the north.  

The result was Hadrian's Wall, a 73-mile barrier stretching from the River Tyne in the east to the Solway Firth in the west. Segedunum, which means ‘Strong Fort’, was built to guard the eastern end of the Wall and housed 600 Roman soldiers. It stood for almost 300 years as a symbol of Roman rule and a bastion against enemy attack. 

Today, Segedunum is once again a major site on Hadrian's Wall. It is the most excavated fort along the Wall with surviving foundations of many buildings and part of the Wall itself. There is a large interactive museum plus full-scale reconstructions of a bath house (currently viewed externally only) and a section of Wall within the grounds. The 35-metre-high viewing tower provides outstanding views across the World Heritage Site.

For full details of opening times, events and facilities available, please visit the Segedunum Roman Fort website: Segedunum Roman Fort