04/05/2022. Communities along the length of Hadrian’s Wall, the 73 mile long Roman wall that stretches from coast to coast across the north of England, celebrated on Thursday 2nd June 2022 the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the UK and Commonwealth event commemorating Her Majesty’s 70 years on the throne, by lighting a series of beacons all along the wall, from the North to the Irish seas.
In a new version of ‘Northern Lights’, the lighting of the Beacons, at 10 pm once fully dark, marked the opening of the four-day Platinum Jubilee weekend. The event also commemorated a second important occasion, the 1900th anniversary of the building of the Roman wall by emperor Hadrian.
Segedunum, the huge Roman fortress and HQ at the beginning of Hadrian’s Wall in Newcastle upon Tyne saw bands, military detachments and pipers entertain the crowds. While along the wall smaller community events used the occasion to light up the darkness of the countryside around.
I visited Vindolanda, the Roman fort close to Bardon Mill in Northumberland, some 32 miles west of Newcastle and almost halfway along the length of the wall. One of Europe’s most important Roman archaeological sites, Vindolanda once housed legionaries from throughout the Roman empire – soldiers from Belgium, Germany and France were all garrisoned here.
Heavy rain dampened my journey there, and probably limited attendee numbers. But by the time I arrived at 9 pm the rain had stopped, and it was still light enough despite the gathering dusk to explore the ruins and marvel at Roman ingenuity and engineering.
My visit was illuminated by a small party of volunteer archaeologist enthusiasts who were on the last day of their two-week stint excavating part of the site. It seems to have been hard work, yet these volunteers had come from all over the world, even paying for the privilege to work here!
The knowledge they shared contributed greatly to my enjoyment of the event, despite occasional showers dampening our spirits. By 9.45 pm it was dusk, and we volunteers and visitors were issued with wax torches to enable us to process by torchlight around the site prior to the beacon-lighting ceremony.
The beacon itself, set high on one of Vindolanda’s south-facing walls, was lit at 10 pm when full darkness reigned. It flared up into the night to the cheers of the crowd, illuminating the uniforms of the Roman legionaries guarding the beacon site. It was a fine sight, and it wasn’t hard to imagine how important such fires must have been to the guardians of the wall at the time.
To the south, the lush farmland of the Roman empire and civilisation, growing protected crops to feed the people of nearby towns and villages. While to the north, a bleak outlook of barren wilderness fading towards the distant hills of the Scottish borderlands and the wild Pict and Scottish tribes. To the south, light. To the north, the horrors of the dark. So it must have seemed to the legionaries at the time.
I am still in awe of those men. As a southerner myself, I can only imagine how tough life must have been for a soldier guarding the wall at that time, with nothing but a thick woollen cloak and leather uniforms to protect against the biting wind of a Northumbrian winter. I shiver just to think about it.
So I raised a cheer together with the others at the end of the beacon-lighting ceremony. Not just to Her Majesty the Queen and her 70 years on the throne, but also to the memory of the legionaries all those centuries ago who did their duty watching over the edges of empire, and guarding against the horrors of the unknown.
Hadrian’s Wall today is a wonderful place to visit, and richly deserving of its Unesco World Heritage status. Yet it is also a reminder from history of how disparate communities can thrive and prosper under the umbrella of a shared value system, even if at times that value system seems more notional than real.
So I carried my torch along with the others that evening to celebrate that history, to show my own personal light in the dark, and to make my own personal contribution to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
© Philip Hunt, 2022.
More information
Hadrian’s Wall (Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadrian’s_Wall
Hadrian’s Wall Platinum Jubilee beacons
https://hadrianswallcountry.co.uk/media/news/platinum-jubilee-beacons-hadrian%E2%80%99s-wall
1900 years of Hadrian’s Wall
https://1900.hadrianswallcountry.co.uk/
Segedunum (Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segedunum
Vindolanda
https://hadrianswallcountry.co.uk/visit/roman-vindolanda
