Vindolanda Fort: Roman site becomes family's lockdown home

A family spending lockdown living in a Roman Fort have described it as a "surreal experience".

As the UK went into lockdown Sonya and Colin Galloway, who both work for the trust that runs Vindolanda Fort, left their home in Hexham to live there.

The couple thought they and their sons Oliver, 15, and Luke, 13, would only be there for three or four weeks.

But they have remained for 11 weeks, sweeping bathhouses and protecting artefacts from wind and badger damage.

Usually this would be the busiest time of the year at the fort near Hadrian's Wall, with hundreds of visitors and would-be archaeologists booked in to take part in digs.

But, like tourist attractions across the UK, it has been closed because of the coronavirus crisis and communications manager Mrs Galloway said the site would have lost an estimate £600,000 in income by the end of July.

Most of the site's 40 staff have been furloughed and she and her husband, deputy CEO at the Vindolanda Trust, took the decision to decamp the family as well as pet labradoodle Eric and cat Bramble to live in accommodation on site where volunteer diggers would usually stay.

They arrived soon after lockdown began in March, fearing a travel ban would leave the site empty.

Mrs Galloway said: "We've been working 24/7 and there are worse places to be.

"We've been making sure the buildings are secure, repairing any minor damage caused by the weather or animals and inside checking our artefacts, maintaining the right humidity.

"My two boys have been locked in a permanent history lesson and it's been unforgettable for them.

"My youngest Luke has helped to sweep the pre-Hadrianic bathhouse, collect coins from a dried up well on the site and he was most impressed to get two buckets full of coins - only worth about £20 though.

"One highlight has been seeing a deer give birth to twins in the ground on a hot bank Holiday Monday - ordinarily animals wouldn't come that close but with no visitors she felt safe.

"Luckily for her the Roman Army with their love of hunting have long since left".

The Vindolanda Trust had to apply for emergency funding and successfully obtained grants from the Arts Council England and Northumberland County Council.

Mrs Galloway said it has also had to take out a £300,000 bank loan to bridge some of the immediate funding gap and the financial costs of the pandemic would be felt for years.

The trust has launched a survival appeal and has raised just over a fifth of its £100,000 target.

The family has been running the Vindolanda online shop sending orders out all over the world.

They have also created a home learning section of the website to support parents with Roman-themed activities.

"Personally for me it's been great," Mrs Galloway said. "I love photography so have captured some wonderful images during lockdown, at all times of the day and night.

"I hope that those images inspire people to make a visit to the site once life returns to normal.

"Our downtime has been quite magical, from super moons to super sunsets and sunshine.

"We are, however, ready now to move back home and will be doing so in the next couple of weeks.

"We know there are many people out there who would have relished the opportunity to have been locked down at Vindolanda and we feel, actually, very fortunate to have played our part in caring for it while everyone has been away."

Vindolanda Fort is due to begin a phased reopening on 15 June.