Travels In Time: Hadrian's Wall: Day 4 - Wallsend and South Shields

A visit by Tyne & Wear Metro to Segedunum Fort at Wallsend and Arbeia Fort at South Shields

Day 3.5 - Heddon on the Wall to Newcastle

Day 4 - Wallsend and South Shields (this page)

Below - A map of the Segedunum Roman Fort, similar to a few forts I passed on my walk of the highlights of the wall between Brampton and Corbridge on days 1 to 3. (Click to Enlarge)

The eastern end of Hadrian's Wall was at the Segedunum Fort, at which point the River Tyne was considered wide enough to act as a defensive barrier. Though the stonework on the wall and fort was largely re-used after the fall of the Roman Empire and the site built over, particularly during the industrial revolution, some remains have been uncovered and are now part of the Segedunum Roman Fort and Museum. The museum is a short walk from Wallsend Metro station.

More information can be found on the Segedunum website.

Google Maps

Below - The museum features a viewing platform giving arial views of the site. The white building on the left is a reconstruction of a bath house. The foundations of the original bath house were later found behind the reconstruction. The straight rows of barracks blocks and the square buildings around courtyards of the headquarters building can be seen. The end of the wall was in the bottom left corner of the shot.

Below - Remains of the Swan Hunter shipyard can be seen. The wall would have ended on a pier on the river where supplies and visitors to the fort could be landed.

Below - The last remnants of the Swan Hunter shipyard. The former goods railway that served industries alng the river can be seen. This railway is now a footpath which is part of the Hadrian's Wall Path, though the course of the wall was infact along nearby roads.

Below - The museum contains a reconstruction of a barracks block showing how the blocks were shared by the soldiers and their horses with a partition inberween.

Below - At the heart of the headquarters building the banners and regalia would have been kept.

Below - The location of the heart of the headquarters building. In the background the museum building and viewing platform can be seen.

Below - Information board at the headquarters site (click to enlarge).

Below - View through the main roadway through the fort. Blocks of stone are original foundations and round pebbles have been used to mark where lost walls would have been. It can be seen that a lot of the original stonework has been completely lost. Houses for workers at the nearby shipyards were built over the fort site.

Below - Information board at the former barracks block.

Below - Former entrance gate to the fort complex.

Below - Water tank still holding water.

Below - The eastern end of Hadrian's Wall.

The site where the wall met the perimeter wall of the fort, completely lost but marked by round pebbles.

Below - A monument marking the end of the wall.

Below - The reconstruction bath house, unfortunately this was not open at the time.

Below - The remains of the 18th Century Wallsend B Pit Coal Mine. This site would have had an early steam engine.

Below - Information board at the former mine (click to enlarge).

Below - Remain of the wall (centre) on the approach to the wall from the west. On the right are posts as might have been used as a defensive obsturction at the foot of the wall. On the left is a reconstruction of a stretch of wall.

Below - Examples of how the face of the wall may have been rendered.

Below - Traces of the wall featuring evidence of a collapse in the wall that had been repaired.

Below - From the path along the railway mentioned above the original bath house site can be seen just beyond the bath house reconstruction.

Below - From the museum I returned to Wallsend Metro station to use the Metro to travel to South Shields. Wallsend station has bi-ligual signs in English and Latin.

A short walk from the South Shields Metro station is the Arbeia Roman Fort. Though this was located south of the River Tyne and not connected to the wall it was used as a supply base for the area and had a different layout with more of the site taken up by graneries. This site had also been built over in Victorian times. A few parts of the site have been reconstructed.

More information can be found on the museum's website

Google Maps

Below - The reconstructed west gate recreating a view that would have been seen at the entrance to the major fort sites I have visited on this journey.

Below - Information board at the reconstructed west gate.

Below - View across the fort site.

Below - The turret in the south west corner.

Below - Remains of the south gate.

Below - The partly reconstructed governor's complex.

Below - A reconstructed barracks block.

Below - A gap in the reconstruction of the governor's complex to reveal the original ruins.

Below - Officers and soldiers accommodation.

Below - Latrine block.

Below - Granery blocks, these take up much of the site with its key purpose being a supply base.

Below - Evidence of how the fort was originally smaller and subsequently enlarged with a curved corner in the original fort walls that has been replaced with an extension.