Centurion makes for a fitting salute to Wall
SCULPTURE UNVEILING MARKS DOUBLE ANNIVERSARY Police in gun alert Terror at high speed
A ROMAN fort welcomed an imposing new recruit this week as it celebrated a double anniversary.
The 8.5ft-tall centurion Sentius Tectonicus took up his new post at Segedunum fort in Wallsend to mark the eastern end – or start – of Hadrian’s Wall.
The unveiling of the sculpture also highlighted the 1,900th anniversary of Hadrian becoming emperor and the 30th anniversary of his wall being designated as a World Heritage Site.
It also marks the beginning, or finish, of the Hadrian’s Wall national trail.
The centurion was commissioned by North Tyneside Council from Whitley Bay sculptor and painter John 0’Rourke, who is also a part-time lecturer at Tyne Metropolitan College.
John said: “From the outset my concept for this sculpture was to create a soldier on the one hand, but also a spiritual warrior.
“I also wanted to construct a form alluding somehow to the region’s past, present and future.
“Wallsend’s more recent history revolved around the shipbuilding industry and making a figure which adopted industrial materials and fabrication methods ensures that the Artist John O’Rourke at the unveiling of Sentius Tectonicus at Segedunum work’s structural and material substance forges those links.”
Its first name comes from an inscription found close to Segedunum which reveals that a centurion named Sentius Priscus supervised the building of a section of Hadrian’s Wall in the vicinity. Tectonicus refers to the sculpture’s design as an architectural man, with the centurion’s torso emerging from a Roman four-storey building, resembling the Coliseum.
The sculpture contains 575 components and more than three tonnes of Corten steel – the same material used for the Angel of the North.
And John and Segedunum manager Geoff Woodward have added an element of mystery to the sculpture.
“The lower architectural half of the sculpture has an entrance in the bot- tom floor. A ladder within that interior leads to the second level’s hidden room and this continues up to the fourth storey,” said John.
“In that unseen chamber there is a sealed stainless steel container with unknown contents, to remain hidden and unopened.
“The symbolism of the interconnected interior chambers and concealed box alludes to a love of mysticism.”
North Tyneside Mayor Norma Redfearn described the sculpture as a “spectacular addition” and a “fitting marker” for the end of Hadrian’s Wall.
She added: “In creating the statue, John has managed to capture the power and authority of a Roman centurion, and also a sense of this community’s industrial past through his choice of materials.
“The piece will welcome thousands of visitors every year and will become a tourist attraction in its own right, as well as an end marker for the many people who get here by walking or cycling the entire length of the wall.”
As the sculpture was being unveiled on Friday, two walkers arrived on site after spending six days completing the Hadrian’s Wall trail.
Irene Ryan and Terry Cole, from Middleton, near Tamworth, said: “The sculpture is amazing.” THIS is the menacing weapon which caused armed police to swoop on a small County Durham town.
Armed officers were called out to Crook in the early hours of Saturday after reports a man was carrying a gun on the streets.
Police seized the weapon, which turned out to be a paintball gun.
Durham Constabulary’s chief officer Dale Checksfield said: “It may be an airsoft weapon but at least one person can be grateful of the incredible skill of our AFOs [Authorised Firearms Officers]. Safely secured, one detained, 0 shots.”
Acting inspector John Henderson said: “A 24-yearold male has been detained for firearms offences and he remains in custody.” TRAIN passengers and staff were terrified when a man went on a rampage.
Laurence Mutasa brought fear to the East Coast Mainline service with a series of attacks as it sped through the North East.
A court heard the drunk 37-year-old sexually assaulted a woman, attacked two students, assaulted a catering worker and lashed out at a guard on the Virgin train.
Locking up Mutasa for 12 months at Newcastle Crown Court, Judge Amanda Rippon branded his behaviour “disgraceful”.
Mutasa, of Brohouse, Medway, Edinburgh, pleaded guilty to four charges of common assault, one of sexual assault and one public order offence.