Celebrating Roman Bremenium

Last night 60+ people gathered in Rochester Village Hall in Northumberland National Park to celebrate Redesdale Archaeology Group’s project at Bremenium.

Volunteers and The Archaeological Practice talked about what has been discovered (and what may be yet to discover) at Bremenium at the edge of the Roman Empire with more than 150 years of archaeological recording. Farmer Malcolm and Northumberland National Park’s Historic Environment Officer Chris Jones reminded us of the importance of working with landowners to protect the historic landscape. We also heard from Kids Cabin, Northumbria University and North East Sight Matters about the value of giving young people access to heritage experiences.

What came across in every talk was the joy that this project has brought so many people – whatever their age and previous archaeology experience.

Bremenium was described as one of the most important archaeological sites in the National Park (perhaps the most important outside of Hadrian’s Wall). One of the finds from last summer (a tiny red intaglio featuring an image of a goat eating grapes from a tree) has been described as exceptional by the world expert in such things. There was a real buzz in the room as people shared their own insights and learnt more about this incredible site.

I have been supporting Redesdale Archaelogy Group (RAG) as their Evaluation Consultant since the project started. This has involved helping them to collate and share the archaeological experience so that other projects can learn from this, and also identifying opportunities to strengthen the resilience of RAG so it can continue this work in future. RAG is a group of volunteers punching far above their weight – what they are achieving in not only revealing the secrets of Bremenium but also allowing more people to get a taste of archaeology is inspiring.