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The Getty Conservation Institute

Field Trip Report

Values Assessment and Site Management Project

Case Study #4

Hadrian’s Wall, United Kingdom April 19-26, 2002 By: F. LeBlanc

Case Studies in Values Assessment and Site Management During the past four years, under the stewardship of Marta de la Torre, the GCI has been carrying out research on “values” in the field of heritage. A special focus was placed on the relationship between the economic and the cultural values. Two reports on this work have been published, and a third, in preparation, will focus on stakeholder consultation and the assessment of values, exploring methods in ethnography, geography, economics, and environmental conservation. As an extension of this effort, a series of case studies is being developed to serve as examples of how values-driven site management has been interpreted, employed, and evaluated. This project is a collaboration of the Australian Heritage Commission, English Heritage, Parks Canada, US national Park Service, and the Getty Conservation Institute. Case Study #1 was Grosse-Île in Quebec, Canada. Case Study #2 is Chaco Culture in New Mexico, USA. Case Study #3 is Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia and Case Study #4 is Hadrian`s Wall in the United Kingdom. Each case in this series will illustrate how values were identified, how they are enshrined in documents and how they impact the day-to-day management. The five partner organizations met in Newcastle from April 19 to 26.

The Partnership Team to study Hadrian’s Wall case comprised: Christina Cameron, Parks Canada Gordon Bennett, Parks Canada Frank McManamon, United States National Park Service Dwight T. Pitcaithley, United States National Park Service Jane Lenon, Australia Heritage Commission Cristopher Young, English Heritage Kate Clark, English Heritage Randall Mason, Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, University of Maryland Margaret MacLean, Heritage Consultant Marta de la Torre , GCI David Myers , GCI Francois LeBlanc, GCI And participation of: Tim Whalen, Director, GCI Jeanne Marie Teutonico, Associate Director, GCI

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From Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site, we had discussions with: Alan Eales, Carlisle City Council Amanda Earnshaw, Countryside Agency Andy Poad, The National Trust Bill Griffiths, Manager, Segedunum Fort in Wallsend Brian Selman, Heddon Parish Council member David Addison, Senhouse Roman Museum David McGlade, Countryside Agency, Hadrian’s Wall Path National Trail Officer David Murray, David Walters, The National Trust Derek proudlock, National Park Rangers Douglas Jones, English Heritage Group Manager Dr. Julia Rand, English Nature Elaine Allen, Manager, Birdoswald Fort Emma Moody, Northumberland National Park Georgina Plowright, English Heritage Museum’s Curator in Corbridge Roman Site Gordon Dodd, Northumbria Tourist Board Graham Taylor, Northumberland National Park Hugh Thomas and David Addison, Senhouse Museum in Maryport Jane Brantom, Hadrian’s Wall tourism Partnership Julian Acton, Farmer, Housestead Lindsay Allason-Jones and Jim Crow, Managers, Museum of Antiquities, Newcastle Lynn Turner, Tynedale Council Malcolm Cooper, Miles Middleton, Mr. Dalrymple, Farmer, Willowford Farm Neil Rimmington, Hadrian’s Wall Earthworks Officer Paul Austen, English Heritage Hadrian’s Wall Co-ordinator Paul Bidwell, Manager, Arbeia Fort, South Sheilds Peter Bromley, English Heritage Regional Director Peter Stone, Archaeologist and teacher Robin & Patricia Birley, Vindolanda Museum

What is Hadrian’s Wall? In 122 AD the emperor Hadrian visited Britain, a province that had been under Roman control for nearly a century but one that continued to be a source of trouble for the new rulers. Various tribes in Scotland remained wholly unconquered, and even in the more southerly parts of Britain, Celtic groups such as the Selgovae and Brigantes kept up their resistance. With these two tribes in mind especially, Hadrian ordered a wall to be built, and much of its ancient course remains visible today. Stretching some 80 miles from coast-to-coast, from the Irish Sea

to the North Sea (to the city of Newcastle , a town in Roman times as well as now), the wall divided the Selgovae in the north from the Brigantes in the south, and it raised the stakes for any Celtic chieftain who sought to reconquer the island of Britain. Both Roman soldiers and native Britons took part in building the wall, the most important parts of which were completed in about ten years. The next emperor, Antoninus Pius, decided to send his

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armies north of the wall and push into Scotland; as had happened in the previous century, the Romans failed to subdue the most powerful tribes and instead built the Antonine Wall (c. 145 AD), which remained the most northerly Roman outpost for about the next forty years, after which the imperial border once again became Hadrian's Wall. In some areas (e.g., much of the city of Newcastle), few traces of the wall remain. Midway between Newcastle and Carlisle, however, archeologists have found many artifacts and have reconstructed much of the original barrier. At every mile the Romans had built a fort and also two watchtowers between the forts. The traces of one of the "milecastles" is visible at left. Along with the fortifications of the wall itself came other structures including the vallum, a ditch running parallel to the south. Once the wall was finished, it conferred economic as well as military advantages on the Romans. The gates allowed the army to monitor movements between the south and the north and also to collect taxes. Communities serving the garrisons sprang up at various points, and the growing need for food led to cultivation of nearby lands. Hadrian's Wall did not always stop northern invaders, who at times may have bypassed it through naval maneuvers. Nevertheless, the value of the wall to the Romans is seen in the fact that they continued to repair it until the late fourth century. By 383, however, the cost of manning the wall had grown too great for an empire under threat from invaders closer to Rome, and in that year the legions left the wall forever.

The Building of Hadrian's Wall Many today mistakenly believe that the wall was built by slaves. By today's standards we could say that the wall was a kind of occupational therapy for Roman legionaries; men from all over the Empire who had voluntarily joined the army, probably needed such an exercise to keep them fit and busy in what was at that time a lonely outpost at the farthest edge of the world. The Roman army numbered amongst its ranks highly skilled architects, mason builders, surveyors and carpenters as well as soldiers for whom the wall was an opportunity to express their talents and also be part of what they felt was the greatest civilizing force in the west at that time. Local people may have willingly helped for not dissimilar reasons. And undoubtedly local people benefited from trade in goods and services.

The majority of the wall was built of stone. At first 10 Roman Feet wide, and later 8, it began in the east and reached the river Irthing near present day Carlisle, from there it continues west to the Solway

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Firth but is built of 18" by 12" by 6" regulation turf blocks. "Milecastles" were placed at regular intervals. Each pair of Milecastles had two Turrets between them. A Milecastle could garrison between 8 and 32 men. Turrets could also shelter some soldiers though they may have served primarily as look-out vantage points. As Hadrian's project evolved more legionaries were moved up to the wall and large Forts were built which straddled it. These Forts had gates to allow traffic to pass north and south through the wall. During six years of building the wall reached its final basic form: From the south; an earth mound, then a ditch and further mound, then an open area on which a road was built to allow easy access to all parts of the wall all along its length, then the main wall itself, and just to the north of that, a deep ditch.

For native inhabitants the ditch and mounds to the south may have signified the start of a sort of reserved "military zone". From the point of view of a "barbarian" from north, the wall must have seemed an almost superhuman accomplishment; perhaps a psychologically daunting symbol of power. The Case Study work program Saturday April 20 and the morning of Sunday were spent reviewing the draft of the first three Case Studies. During Sunday afternoon, we listened to presentations by Paul Austen of English Heritage and Jane Brantom of Hadrian’s Wall Tourism Partnership. During the remainder of the week, we visited sites all along the 73 miles of Hadrian’s Wall and discussed various aspects of site management with numerous stakeholders.

What are some of the lessons we learned during this Case Study? 1. Values change. When Hadrian’s Wall was built in 122, it must

have looked to the local inhabitants somewhat like the Berlin Wall did to the West Germans. It was built without local consent, by a conquering army, using non-traditional building materials and techniques (stone as opposed to earth and wood). It was a fifteen feet high structure that cut across fields without any respect for property lines and it was whitewashed (i.e. painted white), making it a very prominent feature in the green landscape, a very strong statement that emphasized domination.

For centuries its value was military. Then it lied in the stones that were

Hadrian's Wall as it could have looked during the second century AD

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reused for building churches, houses and farm walls. Now, it has been recognized for its archaeological and historical values while it is acquiring a major economic value for a region that was hard hit by the Foot and Mouth Disease last year.

2. Implementation must be part of plan. The development of the Management Plan for Hadrian’s Wall was initiated by English Heritage which plays a leading role in coordinating the activities of several agencies, local authorities and more than 700 owners from all along the seventy-three miles of the wall. One of the important lessons learned by our group is that it is useless to prepare a management plan unless an implementation mechanism is incorporated in it. In this case, the implementation mechanism consisted in establishing a field office in Hexham and staffing it with three persons dedicated to this task.

3. A visionary plan. As the management context changes through time, so must the site management approach. Therefore it is much more practical to develop a short “vis ionary” management plans than a detailed one. In this way, it is possible to maintain the vision over time while adjusting the actions and interventions according to the evolving situations. No management plan could have predicted the Foot and Mouth Disease disaster that hit this region last year. It was suggested that management plans should have a 30-year vision with 5-year plans and 1-year specific program and budget.

4. The unifying power of a World Heritage Nomination. Efforts to

coordinate stakeholder’s activities all along the wall were going on before the site was nominated to the World Heritage List. But they were not very successful. The listing of Hadrian’s Wall to the WH List in 1987 changed all that. It focused everyone’s energy and resources. It also helped to bring new financial resources for marketing and tourism aspects and a new initiative for education. This case certainly demonstrated the unifying power of a World Heritage nomination.

5. Farming and Heritage. Heritage preservation values may clash with local

everyday life values. For some farmers renting land all along the wall and having to make a living in the aftermath of the Foot and Mouth disease, managing certain aspects of heritage tourism on their farms is not seen as a positive point. Farming takes a backseat to tourism. Visitors interfere with sheep or cattle grazing. Part of the land that they rent is used for other purposes without financial compensation. They see little or no added financial benefit to their activities, just added responsibilities and expenses. There are more meetings to attend, more regulations to abide to and more paperwork to fill. They certainly understand the importance of attracting more visitors to their region to help regenerate the economy, and will collaborate in this endeavor, but feel like they are on the sidelines when it comes to taking part in the benefits. The implementation process for management plans should consider more closely the question of how benefits to the local population will be identified and promoted.

Tousirm seen as a means for economic regeneration

Implementing the plan. It is important to have a team of professionals in the region to implement the plan

Simple to understand visionary plan followed by more detailed action plans that adapt to changing conditions

The Foot and Mouth disease that struck in 2001 was a hard blow to the regional economy. Farmers and tourists don’t necessarily mix very well

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6. Education and Heritage . A special three-year program to develop and incorporate information on Hadrian’s Wall into the education curriculum is sponsored by the World Heritage Center. One of the lessons learned is that to be successful, the heritage professionals should not attempt to “bring” the educators to the heritage world, but the opposite. It is up to us to understand how the education world functions and try to adapt to it. For instance, we were told that in England, teachers have a clear objective for developing literacy and numeracy skills, but there is no content attached to it. There lies the opportunity. We have to prepare material that fits within these categories and make sure that it is prepared according to their norms. In the case of Hadrian’s Wall, an Education Committee was created to coordinate activities. It was felt that formal education was the easiest to approach. Informal education (community education) will take longer. A kit for training the trainers was developed and a course was set up at Newcastle University.

The need for a Management Plan (The following are extracts from Hadrian’s Wall Conservation Plan of 1996) Hadrian’s Wall and the Cumbrian extension of the defenses west of Bowness stretch across the north of England while the various associated sites are scattered across its hinterland. The size of the site, its multiple ownership (with 10 per cent owned specifically for conservation), the very varied land uses around it, and the large number of local authorities and other bodies involved, pose exceptionally complex issues for the coordination of its management, since it is part of a living and worked-in landscape which will continue to evolve and develop. There are four major factors that need to be balanced. The first is the need to conserve the archaeological sites and their characteristic landscape. The primary reason for designation of the World Heritage Site is the historical and cultural importance of the surviving remains and landscape of the Roman frontier zone and the way in which they have evolved and been used down to the present day. Second, the World Heritage Site lies within a living and working landscape dominated by agricultural activity. A prosperous and flourishing agricultural regime sympathetic to the Site and its Setting is also essential in the future. The third factor, access to Hadrian’s Wall is of high importance. The wall has attracted visitors since the sixteenth century and has become a regular tourist destination throughout this century. Lastly, it is necessary to consider the contribution made by the World Heritage Site to the regional and national economy. While considerable benefit is derived from farming activity along the length of the Wall, the World Heritage Site can also contribute to the economy through the development of tourism and related services.

Education and Heritage: reaching the schools and the people

There are complex issues to resolve for coordination of the management plan

First is the need to conserve the archaeological sites and their characteristic landscape

Second, the site lies within a living and working landscape dominated by agricultural activity

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Reconstruction of Roman gate at Arbeia Fort, South Sheilds Conjectural model reconstruction of Arbeia Fort

The George Hotel in Chollerford where the Values Management Team stayed

The George Hotel – one of the salons Walking along Hadri an’s Wall

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Hadrian’s Wall, an amazing military achievement Walk from Housestead to Steel Rigg

The architectural award winning Segedunum Fort museum at Wallsend Segedunum Fort archaeological remains seen from viewing tower

A National Trail is being created along Hadrian’s Wall Legionaires and Centurions built the Wall Multi -language information signs

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The Values Management Team at work along Hadrian’s Wall

Vicky ABBOTT

Paul ADDISON

Elaine ALLEN

Paul AUSTEN

Gordon BENNETT

Robin and Pat BIRLEY

Christina CAMERON

Kate CLARK

Marta de la TORRE

Bill GRIFFITH

Francois LEBLANC

Jane LENON

Margaret MACLEAN

Randall MASON

David McGLADE

Frank McMANAMON

David MURRAY

David MYERS

Dwight PITCAITHLEY

Andrew POADE

Brian SELLMAN

Jeanne M. TEUTONICO

Tim WHALEN

Christopher YOUNG