Emperor Hadrian popped into Ravenglass to enjoy a bubble bath to help kick off year-long celebrations to mark his wall’s 1,900-year anniversary.
January 24 would have been his 1,942nd birthday and 1,900 years since he decreed that a frontier be constructed to define the limits of his empire.
To celebrate the launch of Hadrian’s Wall 1900, Emperor Hadrian took a bath in the Ravenglass bathhouse
The ceremonies were supervised by Sulis, the Romano Celtic Goddess of thermal springs and healing waters.
The bathhouse at Ravenglass is one of the highest free-standing Roman structures in northern England and sits at the start of the Hadrianic Frontier.
It is under the stewardship of English Heritage and rests within the Muncaster estate.
Emperor Hadrian was supported by a small retinue of Roman attendants and the Fool of Muncaster.
Following his ablutions, the Emperor travelled by chariot to Muncaster Castle and officially opened a preview of the Roman Muncaster exhibition, which will highlight
Roman activity in and around Ravenglass, the Parish of Muncaster and the Western Lake District throughout Muncaster Castle’s 2022 visitor season.
The Roman general Agricola sailed into the Esk Estuary in 79AD and established the port and fort at Ravenglass in Muncaster Parish.
The fort and surrounding vicus is thought to have been more or less continually used by the Romans throughout much of their occupation of Britain.
Muncaster Castle and estate will be closely involved with supporting the Hadrian’s Wall 1900 celebrations throughout the year.
The 150-mile Hadrian’s Wall frontier area runs from the western Roman coastal defences at Ravenglass, through Whitehaven, Workington and Maryport to Bowness-on-Solway, along
Hadrian’s Wall through Carlisle and Hexham to Newcastle, Wallsend and South Shields.
Along the wall there were around 80 milecastles and 160 turrets, a ditch to the north and the great defensive vallum earthwork to the south.
The Frontier then continued from the Dutch coast through northern Europe to the Black Sea and from there to the Red Sea and across North Africa to the Atlantic coast.
