The Vindolanda Trust,

The Vindolanda Trust has won nearly £4million in funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund. More information can be found by going to the Links page and clicking on the link to the Vindolanda webpage.

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Binchester (Vinovia) Excavation Project 2009-2014.

The Archaeological Department of Durham County Council has started a new five year programme of excavations at Binchester Roman Fort. The work will be carried out in partnership with the Archaeological Department of Durham University, the Archaeology Centre, Stanford University (California) and the Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland. 

The project was commenced this year with several large scale excavations and fieldwork with the intention of investigating  the south-east gateway, a part of the fort interior and a small section of the vicus.  The university training excavations began in early June and work has continued with the public excavations until 7th August 2009. 

Binchester Roman Fort is open annually from the Easter Weekend until 30th September. The site opens at 11am and closes at 5pm daily except in July and August when the hours are 10am to 5pm. The site is closed in the winter months. 

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Vindolanda Roman Fort Excavations.

A press release from the Vindolanda Trust has announced that the excavation team working on the north gate of the fort has discovered a unique religous shrine. The press release by Professor Anthony Birley states "What should have been part of the rampart mound near to the north gate has turned out to be an amazing religious shrine with a substantial and exceptionally well preserved altar dedicated by a prefect of the Fourth Cohort of Gauls to an important eastern god, Jupiter of Doliche".  

Stop Press: "The bottom half of a second altar has also been discovered in the shrine. This altar was dedicated by a prefect of the Second Cohort of Nervians". 

The 2009 Vindolanda excavations continued until mid September.

More information about these new discoveries and translations of the inscriptions can be found by visiting the Vindolanda website using the link on the Links Page.