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The role of cavalry along Hadrian’s Wall in Roman times is set to be explained in a planned exhibition along its length costing alost £1m.

The exhibition “of international significance” and linked events - including dramatic re-enactments - could take place in 2017.

And it would “raise public awareness and understanding of the role of Roman cavalry, their multicultural origins, their status and significance at the heart of the Empire”, bosses say.

The project is set to involve museums and heritage sites along the World Heritage Site in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and Cumbria, as well as renowned sites home and abroad over a six month period.

Now, Northumberland National Park Authority has submitted a bid for almost £1m in funding on behalf of the parties involved to allow the project to come to fruition.

The Hadrian’s Cavalry Project has been developed throughout the course of last year by a partnership of museums based along the length of the Roman Wall.

It aims to create an “inspiring” exhibition for all 11 museums and heritage sites along Hadrian’s Wall, based on the “little explained” role of cavalry along the frontier in Roman Britain, with Chesters Roman Fort in Northumberland regarded as the best-preserved Roman cavalry fort in Britain.

The project would bring together the British Museum, the National Museums of Scotland, with museums in Holland and Germany and private collectors to deliver a six month, wall-wide exhibition of “international significance and interest” in 2017.

There would also be an associated events programme across the 11 museums. This would include re-enactment events, public talks and a community engagement and learning programme animated by a variety of creative artists - writers, poets, visual and performance artists.

The project would, it is hoped, “generate opportunities to inspire visitors to go beyond the in-situ exhibitions and discover the historic landscapes in which the Roman Cavalry operated.”

The national park authority recently agreed to submit a “regionally significant” bid for £890,000 to the Museum Resilience Fund administered by the Arts Council England, and to act as accountable body for the project.

The bid would, the authority says, “bring benefits to visitors, businesses and communities in the national park.”

Authority head of corporate services Stuart Evans said: “The board were keen that they were able to support the initiative and act as the accountable body, to allow another aspect of the Roman history to be made available to the public in the area and in particular that it would be from coast to coast.”

Chesters was once home to 500 horses and soldiers from the Roman Army and has hosted re-enactment events in the past.