Book explores story behind Roman Fort
SOUTH Shields’ Roman Fort, Arbeia, is a longestablished Tyneside visitor attraction.
But back in 1875, the excavation of the fort, which is today situated on Baring Street, made national news.
Crowds flocked to the town to see the Roman remains, while the number and quality of the finds shocked the archaeological establishment who found it hard to believe such treasures could have been found on a site near the centre of a Northern industrial town.
Some authorities in London believed many of the finds to be forgeries bought from sailors in the busy port, but as the excavation progressed there was no doubt that it was a sensational archaeological discovery led by an unknown amateur.
A new book, The People’s Roman Remains Park by David Kidd and Jean Stokes (a retired mathematics teacher and college lecturer respectively) tells the story of those exciting times based on a scrapbook kept by Robert Blair, the secretary of the excavational committee and the leader of the successful campaign to
dig up the remains and then preserve them as the first publicly owned archaeology park in Britain.
An extract from the foreword by Alex Croom, Keeper of Archaeology at Arbeia South Shields Roman Fort says: “Jean and David have produced a wonderful book, not only looking at the earliest excavations of the site and the remains and artefacts discovered, but also presenting many of the personalities involved.
“I am sure you will enjoy reading this intriguing story.”
Robert Blair’s scrapbook is the core of the book and the objects found in the dig which can still be seen at Arbeia South Shields Roman Fort and the Great North Museum: Hancock, Newcastle.
The book also tells the story of the people behind the news and gives a portrait of the Victorian boom town of South Shields, a place that desperately wanted to find a history to match its civic ambitions.
The book was written to support the work of Arbeia South Shields Roman Fort and all profits from its sale will be donated to Arbeia.