Wallsend (G-B): Segedunum Roman baths site set to reveal more of its secrets

New digging season for Hadrian's Wall community archaeology project at the Roman baths site at Segedunum fort in Wallsend

Tony Henderson

Source - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/wallsends-segedunum-roman-baths-site-8994372

Diggers at work on the Wallsend Roman baths site

Volunteers are again dipping into history in the first major excavation of a Roman baths site on Hadrian’s Wall since the 19th Century.

Last year the WallQuest community archaeology project hit the historical jackpot when diggers located the baths at Segedunum fort in Wallsend.

It was the first time the baths building had been seen since it was observed by the historian the Rev John Hodgson in 1814 as it was uncovered during work to build coal staiths.

Now a new season of digging has started at the North Tyneside site, with volunteers bent on discovering more of the baths complex.

They have already uncovered the cold plunge pool with its waterproof cement, remains of pillars which once raised the floor of the warm room to allow hot air to circulate, the stoke hole for the furnace which provided the heat, and projecting bays which probably contained wash basins.

Back on site is volunteer Vivien Samuelson, of Killingworth, who was named as the Council for British Archaeology’s Community Archaeologist of the Year at an award ceremony in London.

She said: “The project embraces the spirit of community archaeology to its fullest extent, with active involvement from young and old. Students, schoolchildren and scouts together with older people from all walks of life have taken part.

“Achieving our goal of unearthing the Roman bath-house at Segedunum was a most rewarding experience.”

WallQuest: Hadrian’s Wall and its Legacy on Tyneside is a three-year project led by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, along with other benefactors.

It focuses on the easternmost 30 miles of Hadrian’s Wall and offers local people the chance to get involved in research and excavation.

It was thought that the Wallsend baths may have been buried under the Ship in the Hole pub.

When the pub was demolished, it opened up the opportunity for the dig.

WallQuest project manager Dr Nick Hodgson said: “Viv led a group of volunteers researching historic maps and records which pointed to the conclusion that the former Ship in the Hole pub was close to the original Roman baths.

“Thanks to the quality of the research organised by Viv the WallQuest volunteers were digging in the right place and found the long-lost baths at the first attempt. Viv has been on the dig every day since.

“Thanks especially to Viv, the baths of the Roman fort at Wallsend have been rediscovered, and her determination has shown local people that it is possible for them to make a discovery as dramatic and exciting as this - one of the most important on Hadrian’s Wall in recent times.”

Diggers at work on the Wallsend Roman baths site

It had been feared that the pub cellars would have obliterated the baths.

But the baths turned out to be covered by two metres of waste from years of transporting coal to the Tyne.

In fact, last year a perfectly preserved late 18th Century wooden waggonway was discovered at the nearby former Neptune shipyard site.

Ironically, the Wallsend fort dig is the first major excavation of a bath house since that carried out in the 19th Century at Chesters fort in Northumberland - a replica of which was built at Segedunum as a visitor attraction.

“As a class of Roman building on Hadrian’s Wall, baths have never been researched using modern techniques,” said Nick.

“Wallsend has the potential to tell us how things changed while the baths were in use.”

The Wallsend excavations have provided evidence that the baths, thought to have been sited on the slope above a stream running into the Tyne, were radically rebuilt due to a landslip.

There is also evidence that the building fell out of use towards the end of the Roman occupation, as happened at Binchester fort in County Durham where mounds of rubbish buried the bathhouse remains.

Baths outside fort walls, such as those at Wallsend, may have been abandoned because of security and economic reasons.

“The baths at Wallsend were 120 metres from the fort, down towards the river,” said Nick,

“The later Roman army was also materially poorer than in earlier times, with the soldiers paid less, and baths were expensive to run.

“They were no longer following the lifestyle trends of the Mediterranean.”

Thanks to a grant windfall, the dig at Wallsend can continue through the summer.

Nick said: “ We have so far only seen a fragment of the building and we hope to get a much more comprehensive view of it.

“We think that the best preserved parts have yet to be found.”

WallQuest volunteers have also uncovered the 7.5 metre wide Roman Military Way behind the Hadrian’s Wall fort at Benwell in Newcastle.

It was thought that the Military Way - the service road behind the Wall - would have been lost to later ploughing and industrial development.

But the section found by volunteers in the grounds of Hadrian School was described as being in “astonishing” condition.

When identified, a bronze Roman coin discovered under the road surface may provide evidence of when the Military Way was laid down.

At the WallQuest dig at Arbeia fort in South Shields, a channel or aqueduct was unearthed which may have fed a bath house outside the walls of an earlier fort dating from AD160.

More than 400 volunteers have taken part in WallQuest.

“I think it is because a lot of people have a genuine curiosity and passion to learn about what is buried beneath their neighbourhood,” said Nick.

It had been feared that the pub cellars would have obliterated the baths.

But the baths turned out to be covered by two metres of waste from years of transporting coal to the Tyne.

In fact, last year a perfectly preserved late 18th Century wooden waggonway was discovered at the nearby former Neptune shipyard site.

Ironically, the Wallsend fort dig is the first major excavation of a bath house since that carried out in the 19th Century at Chesters fort in Northumberland - a replica of which was built at Segedunum as a visitor attraction.

“As a class of Roman building on Hadrian’s Wall, baths have never been researched using modern techniques,” said Nick.

“Wallsend has the potential to tell us how things changed while the baths were in use.”

The Wallsend excavations have provided evidence that the baths, thought to have been sited on the slope above a stream running into the Tyne, were radically rebuilt due to a landslip.

There is also evidence that the building fell out of use towards the end of the Roman occupation, as happened at Binchester fort in County Durham where mounds of rubbish buried the bathhouse remains.

Baths outside fort walls, such as those at Wallsend, may have been abandoned because of security and economic reasons.

“The baths at Wallsend were 120 metres from the fort, down towards the river,” said Nick,

“The later Roman army was also materially poorer than in earlier times, with the soldiers paid less, and baths were expensive to run.

“They were no longer following the lifestyle trends of the Mediterranean.”

Thanks to a grant windfall, the dig at Wallsend can continue through the summer.

Nick said: “ We have so far only seen a fragment of the building and we hope to get a much more comprehensive view of it.

“We think that the best preserved parts have yet to be found.”

WallQuest volunteers have also uncovered the 7.5 metre wide Roman Military Way behind the Hadrian’s Wall fort at Benwell in Newcastle.

It was thought that the Military Way - the service road behind the Wall - would have been lost to later ploughing and industrial development.

But the section found by volunteers in the grounds of Hadrian School was described as being in “astonishing” condition.

When identified, a bronze Roman coin discovered under the road surface may provide evidence of when the Military Way was laid down.

At the WallQuest dig at Arbeia fort in South Shields, a channel or aqueduct was unearthed which may have fed a bath house outside the walls of an earlier fort dating from AD160.

More than 400 volunteers have taken part in WallQuest.

“I think it is because a lot of people have a genuine curiosity and passion to learn about what is buried beneath their neighbourhood,” said Nick.