Year 4 trip to Arbeia
Today Year 4 visited The Roman Fort at Arbeia in South Shields. And we were put into 2 groups.
First, we went on a tour of the fort which was taken by a Roman expert called Julie. They were shown where the granaries would be in the fort as well as the barracks. At the barracks, we visited a room that would have been suitable for an auxiliary, a soldier and also a commander. After this we were then shown where the toilets would have been and how the Romans would have used and cleaned these.
We then went around the museum at the fort to have a look at the artefacts that were on display and we were all surprised to learn that they had all been found in the ground where we had just been standing! We were told by the guide Kate about the fire at the Fort and we were even able to try to hold some Roman chain mail; and found this to be super heavy! Before we left this part of the museum, we all tried on the Roman helmet and held a sword to make us all look like a Roman soldier.
In the stone area of the museum we could see the skeleton which was located in the floor of the and we could also see some grave stones that would have been in place over the graves of those who has been killed.
Finally, we all got the chance to stand on the highest part of the tower to look out over the surrounding areas and we could see what it would have protected back in Roman times.