Hadrian's Wall: Housesteads Roman Fort Entry Ticket

About This Experience

Housesteads is the fort most people picture when they picture Hadrian's Wall: a complete Roman fort platform on an escarpment, with the Wall running away east and west along the crags and nothing but open Northumberland in every direction. It is the most complete Roman fort surviving in Britain, and this ticket is pre-booked entry to it.

Around eight hundred soldiers lived and worked here. The ground plan is legible enough to walk: barrack blocks, the hospital, the commanding officer's house, the granaries raised on stone pillars against damp, and the communal latrines, which are the best-preserved Roman toilets in the country and the thing every visitor photographs.

The museum on site holds finds excavated from the fort — altars, dedication stones, jewellery, tools and weapons — along with a winged statue of Victory recovered from the surrounding landscape. A small cinema runs reconstructions of the buildings as they stood, with a character called Felix guiding younger visitors round.

Outside the walls the Housesteads Trail runs through some of the quieter parts of Northumberland National Park, with five acres open to roam. Note that the fort sits about 750 metres uphill from the car park, on a steep and uneven path.

Highlights

• Walk the barrack blocks, the hospital and the commanding officer's house
• See the best-preserved Roman latrines in Britain
• Museum of altars, jewellery, tools and weapons excavated on site
• Mini-cinema reconstructing the fort as it stood
• The Housesteads Trail across five acres of national park

What's Included

• ✓ Entrance to Housesteads Roman Fort and its museum

Not Included

• Car parking
• Transport to the site

What to Bring

• Comfortable shoes for the uphill walk from the car park
• Waterproofs — the fort is fully exposed on the escarpment
• A picnic, or money for the site cafe

Good to Know & Caveats

• The fort is about 750 metres uphill from the car park on a steep, uneven path
• Contact the site in advance if anyone in your party has impaired mobility, to agree the best access route
• The Family Ticket covers up to 2 adults and up to 3 children aged 5 to 17
• There is no transport to the site — it is on the B6318, the Military Road

Meeting Point

Housesteads Roman Fort, B6318, Bardon Mill, Hexham NE47 6NN