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Rome could come to the rescue of an under-threat fort on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland.

Climate change is drying out peaty layers at the site of Magna fort, adjacent to the Roman Army Museum at Carvoran, putting remains which have lain preserved for centuries in the marshy ground at risk.

Excavations are needed before archaeological deposits are lost at the site. Both Magna and Vindolanda on the Wall are run by the same trust.

Now Vindolanda Trust chief executive and director of excavations Andrew Birley and trustees vice-chairman Gary Calland are to set off on their Vespa scooters from Northumberland on a sponsored ride to Rome in a bid to raise between £50,000-£100,000 to pay for the investigative dig.

It took the Roman army postal service 13 days to carry letters from Rome to Hadrian’s Wall, changing horses frequently.

Andrew and Gary reckon that, with their scooters, they can cover the 3,500-mile round trip to Rome and back in August in the same 13 days. They will camp along the way and will follow old Roman roads where possible, and pass through territories where units which served on the Wall were originally recruited.

If they manage to raise £50,000 it will pay for a two-month dig, while £100,000 will finance excavations at Magna across two seasons.

Magna, with a garrison of around 400 men, is thought to match Vindolanda in its outstanding anaerobic preservation conditions but has never been the subject of a modern research excavation.

It is known to have been the base for Syrian archers – the only such unit known to have served in Britain – and Dalmatian mountain soldiers from the Balkans, people who travelled some of the greatest distances to serve in Roman Britain.

The aim is to complete the journey from Northumberland to the south coast on the first day, then travel through France, with a one-night stay in Rome before crossing the Alps and tracing the Roman-Germanic border to Amsterdam.

While Gary is an experienced scooter rider, Andrew describes himself as a ”Vespa virgin” having only passed his test last year.

“The journey is going to be relentless and we plan to cover an average of at least 300 miles a day,” Andrew said. “Some of the Roman roads on the way are cobbled, some are tracks and others have become modern roads.”

Magna was the Roman name for the fort; it was known as Carvoran in the Middle Ages. The Vindolanda Trust has owned the site since 1972.

“Magna fort, and the way it interacts with the Hadrian’s Wall landscape, has the potential to provide the nearest and best comparison to the amazing information that has come from Vindolanda,” said Andrew.

“The garrisons stationed at Magna were some of the most exotic units on Hadrian’s Wall. Its large pockets of anaerobic preservation are an incredible archaeological resource.

“The Vindolanda Trust had planned to land bank Magna’s fort for future work but as the climate changes, the archaeological environment at the site is also changing, putting some of the preservation levels and features at risk.

“The fields are slowly drying out – the worst thing that can happen to organic items – and as they do so, the land is dropping and the reed beds and peat bog covering the northern part of the site are receding.

“Climate change has changed the game and the clock is ticking. Now is the time to act to rescue material before it is lost forever.

“Magna is not only an anaerobically preserved site. It also holds one of the most enduring mysteries of Hadrian’s Wall, which was why the vallum, the ditch to the south of the Wall, was diverted around the site when elsewhere it runs in straight lengths.

“What was so important to make Magna such an exception to the norm?”

Andrew and Gary will be joined by photographer and filmmaker Adam Stanford, who will record the journey, which is being made on what is the 50th anniversary of the setting up of the Vindolanda Trust.

It purchased the field in which Vindolanda fort is located when the landowner retired, and every year more than 440 volunteers from around the world take part in an annual dig. All places were snapped up within 20 minutes of going live on the trust’s website.

If the Magna project goes ahead, the number of diggers will rise to 600.

“The trust’s assets in 1970 were the 13-acre ‘camp field’, a garden shed to store tools, picks and wheelbarrows and £21 in the bank,” said Andrew.

Now Vindolanda and its museum attracts 100,000 visitors a year and the Roman Army Museum 55,000. Since 1970, more than five million people have visited the two sites.

It is estimated that only a quarter of Vindolanda has been excavated, meaning there are another 150 years of excavating to go.

Among the many finds have been 1,800 letters, or writing tablets, and more than 6,000 shoes. Both show that women and children were part of frontier life.

“The finds have completely changed our ideas about Roman frontier life, and the military community,” said Andrew.

Supporters of the VindolandaviaRome project can pledge sponsorship on www.vindolanda.com and the VindolandaviaRome Facebook page. Contributions of £35 or more qualify for a specially designed VindolandaviaRome patch badge.