Festival sees Roman site open to public for first time in a decade
EVENT FOLLOWS A SIGNIFICANT RENOVATION TO THE FORT’S RAMPARTS
THE upcoming Coventry Roman Festival will see one of the city’s Roman sites reopening to the public for the first time in a decade.
The 30ft viewing platform on top of the Lunt Roman Fort’s gatehouse is reopening to visitors at this year’s twoday Lunt Roman Festival on August 3 and 4, between 10am and 4pm.
It follows a significant renovation to the ramparts which provide access to the top of the gatehouse - 50 years after it was initially reconstructed in 1974.
The gatehouse was reconstructed to mark the spot where a similar structure would have once stood to help the Romans guard the site, which is the only partially-reconstructed turf and timber Roman cavalry fort in the country.
The Lunt Roman Fort is also home to the Gyrus - a circular structure believed to be used for training cavalry, not found in any other Roman Fort. It will play host to horsemounted battle reenactments for the first time at the festival, courtesy of ARC Cavalry.
The festival will also see other battle reenactments performed by costumed interpreters from Britannia and the Vicus - some of whom have appeared in films such as Gladiator and TV shows including Blackadder and Horrible Histories. Elsewhere, the site’s Interactive History Village will give visitors the chance to watch ways that the Romans made various products,
The gatehouse is such a symbolic part of the Lunt Roman Fort, as it was the original column posts of this structure that led to the whole site initially being discovered
including bread, jewellery and painting using earth pigment.
The Lunt Roman Fort, which is based in Baginton, is anticipating a record crowd of nearly 2,000 people for this year’s festival after seeing steady year-on-year growth on the past seven occasions.
Lisa Ford, Head of Learning and Engagement at CV Life, which operates the Lunt Roman Fort, said: “The gatehouse is such a symbolic part of the Lunt Roman Fort, as it was the original column posts of this structure that led to the whole site initially being discovered in Baginton - so we’re delighted to have it back operating to its full potential. This year’s festival is going to be bigger and better than ever, as not only will visitors now be able to take in panoramic views of Coventry and Warwickshire just like the Romans would have done to keep watch out for the enemy, but they will also be able to see accurate reenactments of cavalry battles too.
“The fort is only open to the general public during selected days in the school holidays, so the festival is a
golden opportunity for families and Roman enthusiasts to come together to find out more about the history of the Lunt Roman Fort, and what life was like during Roman times in AD60.”
The Lunt Roman Festival has a capacity of up to 1,000 people per day, so people are urged to pre-book online in advance.
Tickets for the Lunt Roman Festival are available from www.luntromanfort.org and are priced at £11.55 for adults and £6.13 for children, with discounted rates available for Go CV card holders.