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Our History

The site of the Roman Fort was open farmland until 1875 when the land was sold to builders. The news that the Roman remains were to be built on prompted local interest in the site and led to major excavations being carried out to record the remains before they were lost. The land, which contained the central section of the Fort, was subsequently bought by the South Shields Corporation and the Roman Remains Park was created.

The finds from the Fort were displayed in the Library and Museum on Ocean Road until 1953, when a small museum was built on the site itself to house them. The museum contains material from the Fort, the surrounding civilian settlement and the cemetery.

In 1986, the West Gate of the Fort was reconstructed to give visitors an impression of the size and scale of Roman military architecture. In 2002 two further reconstructions were opened to show the very different living conditions of a normal soldier, a Centurion and a Commanding Officer. The current programme of excavations at Arbeia began 23 years ago. Arbeia is the only Fort associated with Hadrian's Wall where visitors can see archaeologists at work.