CURRENT AND FUTURE EXCAVATION

		AESICA
		Great news and long awaited. The owner of Great Chesters farm has signed up for Defra's Environmental Stewardship Higher Level Scheme, which will result in the consolidation and preservation of the fort of Aesica and stretches of Hadrian's Wall on his land, along with preservation of nature in the area.
		ARBEIA
		Part of the Tyne & Wear Museums corporation, Arbeia (the fort at South Shields) is one of the largest on the wall and has enjoyed more than 20 years of ongoing excavation. Archaeologists are at work all year here and the pace of progress is truly impressive. Moreover there are a number of reconstructions on site, including the west gate, a barrack block and the commanding officer's house that have all been done with great care.
		CORBRIDGE
		Following trial excavations in 1995, Tyne and Wear Museums are involved in an ongoing excavation at the Roman bridge of Corbridge. The bridge here was an impressive affair and important, as it took Dere Street over the Tyne. Much work has been done over the last two years (2004/2005 seasons) and now the stonework has been recorded and removed where it will eventually be reassembled out of the area of danger from flood damage for visitors to view.
		LANCHESTER
		Currently the fort at Lanchester is on private land and consists visible of the fort walls only as rubble core. It is of interest only to the die-hard Roman enthusiast, but there is a plan afoot between a number of groups including the landowner and the council to run a feasibility study into the possibility of excavating Longovicium fort and opening it as a tourist attraction. I will update this any time I hear new info on Lanchester. *** UPDATE *** Due to the passing of the landowner, that project appears to have been shelved, but Durham University have expressed an interest in Lanchester's development.
		SILCHESTER
		Silchester remains one of very few locations in Britain with a constant flow of excavation every season under the University of Reading. The fact that an entire Roman city exists under fields with no modern settlement atop it means unprecedented opportunities for archaeologists. The downside is that, claiming consolidation would be prohibitatively expensive, all excavations are temporary and later backfilled, leaving nothing visible for the visitor.
		VINDOLANDA
		The Vindolanda Trust are one of the great ongoing excavators in Britain and have been unearthing more of Vindolanda on a yearly basis. The money they make from the site and the Roman Army Museum at greenhead is ploughed back into excavation. The result is impressive as I recently compared the 2004 guide to Vindolanda with my 1978 one and was astounded at the work done. In the last year, work has been carried out on the fort's west wall, the early timber forts and temples. At my 2006 visit, a new area of excavation at the far end of the Vicus from the fort had been opened up.
		WALLSEND
		While the site of the actual fort at Wallsend has been taken as far as possible, there is continuing excavation on a stretch of Hadrian's wall that leads west from the fort itself. A reconstructed section of wall stands alongside the low remains of the actual structure and currently (at January 07) a stretch of wall lies under cover waiting for the better weather to continue excavation and consolidation.