Set on a spectacular ridgeline in the Cumbrian hills, Birdoswald Roman Fort on Hadrian’s Wall was once a meeting place for communities from across the Roman Empire. Men, women and children travelled from as far afield as Spain and Syria in order to serve at the empire’s north-western frontier. At Birdoswald, inscriptions and symbols reveal that the Dacians, from modern-day Romania, built a community here over many hundreds of years.

In this final episode of the series Josie meets Andrew Roberts and Frances McIntosh to learn more about the people who lived at Birdoswald and what the site can tell us about how their identities changed over time. Burial urns displayed in the museum offer an intriguing insight into the lives and deaths of women and children living on the Wall. The Romanian poet Denisa Comănescu reads from her poem ‘A Birdoswald Sequence’ while locals Malcolm Redman and Angela Stephenson tell us about their lives on the Wall today.

Visit our episode page to find out more.

Speaking with Shadows is brought to you by English Heritage. 

Presenter: Josie Long

Producer: Katharine Kerr for Fresh Air

Contributors: Dr Andrew Roberts, Properties Historian; Dr Frances McIntosh, Collections Curator; Malcolm Redman, Owner of Bush Nook Guesthouse; Denisa Comănescu, Poet; Angela Stephenson, Historic Property Steward at Birdoswald Roman Fort.

www.english-heritage.org.uk/speakingwithshadows

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