Segedunum Roman Fort

Segedunum, the Roman fort at Wallsend, marks the eastern end of Hadrian’s Wall. For almost 300 years, the Wall formed the north-west frontier of the Roman empire. It is from its Roman past that Wallsend takes its name. 

Built around AD125, Segedunum was part of an extension to Hadrian’s Wall, built three or four years after the main construction of the wall. 

The fort was built on a plateau overlooking the north bank of the river Tyne, at the point where it turns to run to the Coast at South Shields. The site was perhaps chosen to command views eastwards down the river towards South Shields, and upriver towards Newcastle. 'Segedunum’ means ‘strong fort’ which was recorded in a Roman document, the Notitia Dignitatum, written in the late fourth century AD, around the time of the end of Roman Britain.