The Wall - Rome's Northern Frontier

For 2015 we were back to a larger team, comprising of James Pegrum, Jimmy Clinch, Barney Main, Steve Snasdell, Simon Pickard and new recruit Dan Harris.

The Wall, as we often abbreviate the build's name to,  is a model of Hadrian's Wall, a former defensive fortification in Roman Britain, built between around AD 122 and AD126, during the rule of the eponymous Emperor Hadrian. The Wall stretched some 120km between the Solway Firth in the west to the Tyne Estuary east and when in use was effectively the northern limit of the Roman Empire. The wall would remain occupied by Roman troops until their withdrawal from Britain in around AD 410. In time the wall fell into ruin and over the centuries the stone was reused in other local buildings.

The wall was built by the three legions stationed in Britain at the time – the II Augusta, the VI Victrix and the XX Valeria Victrix. Work commenced with the construction of the wall’s Milecastles and turrets (two between each Milecastle). The wall itself was then built between the Milecastles and turrets joining them together. Forts, such as Houseteads and Birdoswald were moved onto the wall not long after its completion. The wall was also enclosed by a V-shaped ditch to the north and another ditch and attendant earthworks to the south; the latter feature being known as the Vallum.

The Wall: Rome's Northern Frontier

Though Hadrian’s Wall was built by the legions, it was manned by auxiliaries. These included cavalry and all types of light infantry. Auxillia were originally formed from frontier populations to fight in their homelands using their local knowledge. However, following events such as the Revolt of the Batavi in AD 69, they were relocated to other parts of the Empire. Consequently, Hadrian’s Wall found itself garrisoned by Batavian and Tungrian Cohorts amongst others.

In 1987 the remains of the Wall were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and in 2005 it became part of the transnational Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site. The model is roughly sixteen square metres in size and was built on 105 48x48 stud Lego baseplates.

As usual research  into the model began at an early stage in the Lego models. Several of our builders, namely Dan Harris and James Pegrum already had a great deal of experience building Roman models, so the process was kicked off with a rapid start.

One of the key pieces of research was the enrollment of several members in a Futurelearn Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) run by Newcastle University's School of History, Classics and Archaeology. The course,
Hadrian's Wall: Life on the Roman Frontier is run every year starting in early November and is available to anyone.

Several members also undertook a field trip to the real Hadrian's Wall, spending a weekend exploring the forts of Housteads, Chesters and Birdoswald as well as walking a section of the wall itself. This trip proved invaluable and many of the details within the model can be traced back to this experience.

Research material.

Milecastle 37.

Houseteads Roman Fort.

Despite Hadrian's Wall being the focus of the model, perhaps the most impressive feature of this model is the landscape it sits upon. One of things that most impressed us about our field trip was the nature of the area's landscape and so we tried very hard to recreate this and emphasise the difficult terrain the Roman's had to overcome. Jimmy Clinch therefore took on the challenge of building a craggy hill for our Wall to run across, placing his milecastle a the highest point. Tying this landscape together in a consistent manned was a challenge, but by using a mix of blended colours the different sections were bought together seamlessly.

The Milecastle and Bridge

The Milecastle.

The Wall.

The centerpiece of the model is the fort, built by James Pegrum. During his research James came across a picture of fort that looked as if it had been draped over the side of a hill, so despite the technical difficulties this would pose,  he tired to reflect this by creating a small incline for the fort to be shaped over. As a consequence the fort feels like a part of the landscape as apposed to an imposition on it. James ensured that the fort showed every aspect of life as an auxiliary soldier, from managing trade routes to barrack quarters and the latrines. The latrine is in fact a model of the one found at Housteads Roman Fort.

The Fort

The commanders house.

The fort from the west.

 Hadrian's Wall became an important economic entity in its own right, being home to thousands of soldiers with money to spend. The forts also generated a considerable service industry and so settlements sprung up along the roads outside their walls. Such settlements were known as the Vicus. Our Vicus was built by Dan Harris who explored a wide range of building styles that contrasted extensively with the native roundhouse tradition. The town is packed with detail and if you look carefully you will find a blacksmith, bakery, hardware store, granary, temple and tavern. Other features of town life include a small shrine, a fountain, a mason, people demanding their corn dole and a game of harpastum, which is an early form of football.

The Vicus.

Main Street.

Edge of the Settlement

Outside of the town you will also find other examples of Rome's wealth and technological prowess in the form of a villa and bath house.

The villa was built by Steve Snasdell and is actually based on Lullingstone Villa in Kent. The wealthy citizens who settled themselves in this far corner of the Empire had no desire to live in the roundhouses of the Britons and so imported their own continental style to these lands. Steve's villa contains an intricately styled mosaic, which was innovatively built using Lego bars turned on their head.

The bath hosue was made by Barney Main, who took inspiration from famous remains in the city of Bath and a fine example at Chesters Roman Fort on Hadrian's Wall. A great deal of attention was paid to both the external and internal decoration of this building and those able to peer into it would have been able to see a traditional mosaic at the bottom of its pool.

In contrast to these Romanised buildings, Simon Pickard took on the creation of a settlement to the north of the Wall. Features included a selection of roundhouses, one of which had a cutaway section to reveal the living conditions inside. Again, innovative construction methods were used in the creation of this building, with Simon harassing Lego's flexible tubes to create the conical structures of his roundhouse roofs.

The Villa

The Bathhouse

Iron Age Village

The Council by the Stones

Another cutaway section outside the roundhouse settlement reveals the interior of a small barrow, complete with buried minifigure and his possessions. We are also treated to the remains of an ancient stone circle, which is currently being used as meeting point for some local warriors.

While a build of this size would be more than enough for most builders, we also decided to create a number of smaller models to compliment it. These included a couple of archaeology themed creations designed to show the excavation process, an adorable miniland scale model of a Roman Centurion and most impressively of all, a mosaic of the Emperor Hadrian himself.

Rich findings.

The excavation begins.

Ludus latrunculorum.

LEGO mosaic of the Emperor Hadrian

Roman centurion

Like most of our large models, The Wall only existed as a whole during the year of its creation. However elements of it, such as the Roman Villa and Iron Age village, remain extant and are still available to rent. Contact us for more information.

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