Legion-dary creativity: Arbeia Roman Fort Gets Creative

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your...paintbrushes and yarn?

It once stood as the fort that guarded the entrance to the River Tyne against invaders from the North Sea, a vital military supply base for battles along Hadrian's Wall, and as a garrison for Roman soldiers. Now, Arbeia Roman Fort in South Shields is allowing people in for a very different purpose - to get creative.

As one of the more unusual venues holding a Get Creative Day event, at Arbeia you can take in thousands of years of history and let it inspire you to weave, paint, pot, write, sing and let your imagination run free.

Arbeia will have just re-opened for the season and is inviting visitors to come and celebrate the beginning of Spring with their Get Creative Day ‘Aprilis’ event.

Textile display by Nest the Weaver

You can Get Creative Roman-style by learning yarn skills from archaeology textilist Nest the Weaver, who will be demonstrating traditional techniques and inviting you to have a go at making their own materials from naturally dyed yarns. She'll also be showing you how to get crafty on a spindle, allowing you to loom and weave your way to a unique piece of fabric.

If painting and pottery is more your thing, you'll have the chance to recreate Roman style face-pots, taking inspiration from the authentic Roman styles and designs on show at Arbeia. After all, when in Rome...

As a ‘Creativity Welcome Here’ site, visitors are invited to let the fort and museum inspire them. If you're an artist, a musician, a writer, a singer or a painter - or just want to let your mind wander - the fort is there to be your 'imagination playground' for the day.

If you're an artist, a musician, a writer, a singer or a painter, the fort is there to be your 'imagination playground' for the day

“The site is a big, open space that people can come and use to get creative in. There’s a reconstructed commanding officers’ house, with a summer dining room inside, and that particular space has very unusual acoustics – it’s a large, high-ceiling space and very echoey. People could come and make noise and see how the echoes and the acoustics work – you could sing or play music in there”, says Cheryl McCarrick, Event Coordinator for Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums.

The reconstructed buildings also provide plenty of artistic opportunities. The imposing West Gate, fully reconstructed in 1988, is one of the key features of the museum site, and could make an ideal piece for drawing or painting. You can climb to the top and imagine what it would have been like to be a soldier watching over the River Tyne, or explore the rest of the site through its interpretation panels and reconstructions, imagining what it would have been like in the year AD160, living among the battle-ready soldiers.

In the partially rebuilt Commanding Officer's house, you can imagine how he would have lived and entertained guests - explore the rooms he would have slept and eaten in, looking out over the palisade, summer dining room and fresco paintings that adorn the walls.

In the reconstructed barrack block you can imagine the lives of the ordinary soldiers, living eight to a block with their weaponry hanging on the walls.

The Get Creative campaign has been running for just over one year and is the biggest ever joint campaign by the BBC and the UK’s Cultural Organisations. Get Creative Day on Saturday 2nd April celebrates the country's abundant creativity with a nationwide day of free access to creative events across the country. Music taster sessions, origami, pottery, acting workshops and much more. From Liverpool to Northern Ireland and a whole weekend of creativity in Wales there's every reason to get yourself out there on Get Creative Day and try something new.

Coloured yarns dyed by natural methods at Arbeia

Re-enactment group Cohors Quinta Gallorum and a view over the Arbeia site

As well as all of the creative events taking place, Arbeia will be re-living some of its history through live demonstrations. Cohors Quinta Gallorum, Arbeia's very own re-enactment group, will be holding combat demonstrations at 1 and 3pm.

Arbeia also puts on events the whole year round, including pottery demonstrations, talks by herbalists and excavations.

For more information you can head to Arbeia's website. Aprilis takes place on 2nd April and is from 11am-3pm with free entry for all.