Epiacum Roman Fort

Epiacum Roman Fort

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"The Best Preserved Roman Fort in the Empire" Visitors welcome. Try our family trail over impressive

Epiacum is the roman name for Whitley Castle, a Scheduled Ancient Monument at castle Nook farm, Alston. The site has been extensively researched by English Heritage and been classified as the "most significant monument in the region" - we are around 15 miles from Hadrian's Wall, so that is some claim!!

Photos from Epiacum Roman Fort's post 01/06/2026

We can’t thank people enough for the last two weeks!
Excavation at Epiacum proved to be as enticing, confusing and interesting as we expected .

You’re due a photo dump, alongside a plan of what to do next ( once we analyse , plan and recover!)

So ….. just for today …. It’s a massive “THANK - YOU”…… to our archaeologists , Richard, Mark and Adam ( Newcastle Archaeological Practice), and our very own Fran.

And to our wonderful volunteers … turning up every day enthusiastically with trowel in hands and never losing hope. It was a fantastic effort overall. Some came for a day and others for a few consecutive days.

We hope to do it again , but for now , the trenches are back filled and the secrets have been hidden once again!

We have buckets of soil for analysis , some really interesting finds and heads full of questions! It seems it was a typical archaeological exercise in that respect!

Finally, thanks to everyone who visited and took a keen interest.
The enthusiasm for all things Epiacum inspires us!

30/05/2026

On parade, a small display of replica items representing some of the things found at Epiacum.

Photos from Epiacum Roman Fort's post 29/05/2026

Digging for Epiacum !
And an emerging pot is in sight! @

29/05/2026

Come and visit us

27/05/2026

Tomorrow’s talk is now fully booked! Due to limited space we will be unable to accept walk-in’s. Thank you to all who have enquired; we will ask Tony to come back to do another talk later in the year

27/05/2026

This Epiacum talk at the Nook is happening tomorrow - and has been SOLD OUT for s few days now !

Please don’t turn up if you haven’t booked
Space is tight , and especially so in this current heat!

In the context of our current excavation , it will be great to hear Tony Wilmott talk about his many years excavating at Birdoswald

Next months talk is looming ….. so keep watching for details and hopefully we can accommodate everyone who wants to come along then!

The Archaeological Practice Ltd. 22/05/2026

If you would like to follow our daily excavation progress, you can see the updates every day here

They start on Monday 18th and are ongoing! Worth a watch!

It’s great to see this kind of activity on site - and we are grateful to all the staff and volunteers ( who seem to be having a brilliant time)

Alternatively - the site is open to visitors - but if you visit between 3-4pm one of the archaeologists will be able to chat to you and hopefully answer some questions too!

The Archaeological Practice Ltd. The Archaeological Practice is based in the historic city of Newcastle upon Tyne. We specialise in fieldwork and historical research for private, corporate and public clients in the north-east of England and beyond. With nearly 25 years experience as a limited company, we have championed Community-B...

Photos from Epiacum Roman Fort's post 21/05/2026

A cist burial is a type of ancient grave in which the dead body is placed inside a small, stone-built box or chamber.

Typically:
• It is made from stone slabs set upright to form the sides, with a stone placed on top as a cover.
• The body (or sometimes cremated remains) is placed inside, often in a flexed (curled) position.
• Cist burials were commonly used in prehistoric periods, especially during the Bronze Age.

In simple terms, it’s like a stone coffin built into the ground.

Photos from Epiacum Roman Fort's post 21/05/2026

Ask an archaeologist!?

Waiting patiently …..

And see our You Tube channel ( Epiacum Heritage) for our regular updates ( aiming for daily dig diary!)

Epiacum Holymire Day1 18/05/2026

Day One of our dig diary -a good start was made!

Epiacum Holymire Day1 Day 1 of the community archaeological dig adjacent to Epiacum Roman...

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Epiacum Heritage Ltd, Castle Nook Farm
Alston
CA93BG