Around 120 AD the Romans constructed the 'Pons Aelius', the first bridge to cross the River Tyne. A wooden fort was then built to protect the river crossing. It was situated on a rocky outcrop overlooking the bridge. You can see a 3D reconstruction of the Pons Aelius bridge and Roman fort here. Pons Aelius is last mentioned in AD400, in the Notitia Dignitatum, a Roman document listing all of the Roman military outposts.
At some point during the Anglo-Saxon era, the site of Newcastle became known as Monkchester and a cemetery was established on the site of the Roman fort. In 1080 William I's son Robert Curthose began the building of a 'New Castle' where the Pons Aelius fort once stood. It was this castle that gave Newcastle its name. No trace of the Norman castle remains today. Henry II replaced it with a rectangular stone keep. The Castle Keep and Blackgate can be visited today.
The Balkerne Gate was built by the Romans around the 1st century AD about 55 AD. It is one of the most important Roman structures in Britain, and is situated in historic town of Colchester. This Balkerne Gateway was a gate in the Roman Walls of Colchester, and is the largest surviving Roman gateway in Britain. The gate is 107 feet long, and projects 30 feet in front of the wall. There were four openings, two for wheeled traffic and two for those on foot. After the Romans, the gate and gateway became used as an occasional Postern Gate. This saved it from demolition, as over the centuries the other gates were destroyed during road widening schemes.
The Multangular Tower, found in York forms part of the most intact and longest section left of the Roman Wall. York held the Roman name Eboracum, and was the home to Severinus, who was Emperor from 209 - 211 AD. Severinus ordered the Multangular Tower to be built, which is the most distinguishing feature of the wall. The tower is one of what used to be a series of eight towers. It is 9 metres high with 10 sides, however the higher levels were rebuilt during medieval times.
Southwark is a Borough of South-East London, with a history almost as long as that of the City of London itself. It is commonly referred to as "London's first suburb."
As the landing point of Roman London bridge, it had an obvious importance in Roman times - indeed, at Tabard Street in Southwark in 2004, a plaque was discovered with the earliest reference to "London" from the Roman period on it. However, Southwark probably wasn't considered as a distinct entity from Roman Londinium during this era - rather, it was simply Londinium's southern extremity. Evidence from the Roman period suggests Southwark was burned to the ground during Boudicca's revolt in 61 AD.
Newport Castle is a ruined 14th century castle in the centre of the the city of Newport, south Wales. It is this castle that - in the Welsh language - gives Newport its name, Castell Newydd, shortened to Casnewydd ('New Castle'). However, the castle was never a particularly important centre of government (it was only active for 200 years) and it exists today in a state of severe disrepair, with large parts demolished to make way for roads and railways. In 2003, it was sealed off from the public altogether because it is too hazardous to enter.
Only the castle's east side remains, squeezed between a busy modern road and roundabout and neglected for centuries. The high tidal range of the River Usk has caused considerable damage to the castle's remains over the years. The best hope visitors have of seeing its existing remains are from the nearby Newport Bridge or Riverfront Theatre. A footpath once ran nearby, but it too was closed in 2006.
While no plans for a physical restoration of Newport Castle are in any advanced stage, a virtual reconstruction of the building has been created by the University of Wales Newport's Institute of Digital Learning (IDL) and will go online on the IDL's Second Life island soon, alongside other virtual Welsh heritage sites and artefacts, including the Newport Ship.
Llanmelin Fort is an Iron Age defensive enclosure built in about 150 BC by the Silurian tribe of south Wales. It may have been their tribal centre, from where they coordinated their guerilla resistance against the invading Romans for 25 years before 75 AD.
Its remains - situated in Llanmelin Wood - have been excavated widely. The site is ringed by multiple ditches and banks and a drystone revetment. After 50 BC, timber platforms and palisades were built on top of the ditches. Little evidence of human settlement has been found within the walls of the fort, although there is extensive evidence that the site was used for farming after the Roman conquest.
The fact that Caerwent - a market town and administrative centre for the defeated Silures, built at the foot of Llanmelin Hill - was founded in the same year that the fort was abandoned has been pointed to as proof that Llanmelin must have been the capital of the Silures. The size and strength of the fort is further proof of this.
Lodge Hill Fort is the site of an ancient hillfort, above Caerleon on the outskirts of the city of Newport, Wales. Speculation has it that it may once have been the site of Camelot - the castle of the legendary King Arthur.
It was built and occupied by early Welsh tribes. The warlike Silures were resident there around the time of the Roman invasion of the area. They put up a fierce resistance to the Romans, but the Silures and Lodge Hill were eventually subdued - either by force, or by persuasion.
It's been speculated that, after the Romans left, the fort may have been reoccupied by a local warlord who led resistance against a Saxon takeover of the area. This warlord may have been King Arthur, and Lodge Hill could have been the actual site of Camelot, although it's impossible to be sure.
Archaeological investigations of the fort site in the summer of 2000 were led by Dr Ray Howell from the University of Wales. Numerous small finds were made, and numerous layers of occupation were discovered. Lodge Hill featured in the University of Wales Institute of Digital Learning's video Reclaiming King Arthur, featuring Dr Howell.
Located in the North Sinai desert, just east of the Suez Canal, this site contains two ancient Egyptian fortresses. One of them dates to the Amarna Period (18th dynasty) and was used continuously throughout this time-frame. This fort was 120 meters east-west by 80 meters north-south.
It contained a dry-moat that may not have been completed. Its purpose would have been to serve as a barrier to attackers trying to destroy the fort.
There would have been more than 250 men serving in its garrison, including a chariot unit. Wine and other supplies were sent by the rulers of Egypt.
The walls of the structure are about four meters at the base. It was abandoned at the end of the 18th dynasty when a new fortress was constructed beside it. The moat was filled in with stone from what appears to have been a destroyed building – possibly an Aten temple.
The new fortress was smaller and did not have a moat. It appears to have been in use until sometime in the 20th dynasty when it was attacked and abandoned. It’s possible that the Sea People were the attackers.
This active monastery is a box full of surprises as the restoration works have uncovered exquisite medieval paintings, mostly of Holy Knights and Saints. It is really worth the three-hour drive from Cairo to visit this piece of architecture, built as a fortress as a result of Bedouin 'activity' in the past.
According to Abuna ('our Father' in Arabic) Maximos, a resident monk and the brain behind the restoration works, Bedouins still come for food. They have a trap door at the monastery for these occasions.
A settlement in Lower Nubia which was occupied from the start of the Third Intermediate Period (11 century BC) to recent times. The earliest settlement was 80 meters by 150 meters and was constructed at a time when the central government, in Egypt, had collapsed and Lower Nubia was believed to be depopulated.
During the 25th dynasty a Nubian state controlled Qasr Ibrim and conquered Egypt. One of the Nubian pharaohs of that dynasty, Taharqa, built a temple at Qasr Ibrim during the 7th century BC.
At the time of Augustus, the Romans turned the settlement into a border fortress, to protect its southern flank in Egypt. It soon was retaken by the Merotic state, located to the the south. In medieval times it became a substantial settlement with a Christian cathedral which can still be seen.
Today, what’s left of Qasr Ibrim is an island on Lake Nasser. When the Egyptian government built the Aswan Dam in the 1960’s, the area of Qasr Ibrim became flooded, with only its highest elevation remaining above water. Water level rose in 2000, flooding more of the island and its long-term stability has been called into question.
