Housesteads fort
National iconThe most complete Roman fort in Britain, set high on the Whin Sill where Hadrian's Wall rides the crags — barracks, granaries, the commandant's house and the famous latrines, all legible in the turf.
Open to visitorsan English Heritage site — check opening times and admission before you go
Substantial ruinsruined, but plenty survives above ground
Vercovicium to the Romans, Housesteads held a garrison of some 800 auxiliaries — for much of its life the First Cohort of Tungrians, raised in what is now Belgium — on the bleakest stretch of the frontier. Five acres of it survive with unusual clarity: the four gates, the headquarters building, the commanding officer’s house, a hospital, a pair of granaries with their raised, ventilated floors still plain to read, and the best-preserved Roman latrines in the country, flushed by rainwater channelled from the ramparts.
The setting is half the reason to come. The fort sits just south of the Wall where it climbs the dolerite escarpment of the Whin Sill, and the Hadrian’s Wall Path runs past the door — the walk west along the crags towards Steel Rigg and Sycamore Gap is one of the great short walks in the north. The site is in the guardianship of English Heritage and stands on National Trust land; a small museum sits by the fort, with a stiff half-mile climb up from the car park on the military road below.
More at the National Heritage List entry
