Roman Legion Museum celebrates 175th birthday

Local TV

Caerleon has centuries of history, stretching all the way back as far as the Romans, and its museum dedicated to the period is also now a part of that history as it celebrates turning 175 year old.

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00:00Yeah, I mean, I think it's possibly the most common question we get on the desk when people

00:07come into the museum is, oh, what's the price for coming in? And it's always so nice to

00:11be like, there isn't one. You come in as often as you want, see everything we have. You know,

00:17it's fantastic.

00:20Cullinan is absolutely full of history. It's remarkable how much of it is in such a small

00:24village and just how far back it all stretches. The centuries-old Roman remains are the real

00:29drawer of the whole place, with a massive barracks, a bathhouse, and of course the iconic amphitheatre,

00:34which is still in use today with different events like cinema showings and plays.

00:39More modern history is also fascinating. Charles Williams School, just next to the Roman Legion

00:44Museum, is one of the oldest anywhere in Wales, recently celebrating its 300th birthday. The

00:49whole village is rammed full of history, and another historic birthday is coming up with

00:53the Roman Legion Museum soon celebrating 175 years. They're marking this occasion on Saturday

01:00with a free birthday party, and it's expected to be quite the spectacle.

01:04We've got some gladiators coming up very, very shortly. Yes. Of course, our 175th anniversary

01:12on the 2nd of August, so if you can come down. Yeah, that would be great. We'd love to see

01:16everybody. Lots going on, so. Yeah. And we've also got Hands on the Past, which is a handling

01:21box that's going to be here as well in the museum over the course of the summer, and we've also

01:26got the Roman Army Bootcamp, which is an old favourite here in the museum that's going to be running

01:31as well. It'll be a celebration like no other. Gladiators, Roman soldiers, and the iconic

01:37ermine street guard will all be on hand to bring history to life. The museum will also host

01:42cookery demonstrations, Roman traders, live crafts, games, talks, guided tours, a children's

01:47dig pit, and even mosaic making for visitors to try themselves. It's not just confined to

01:53the museum, either. Events will take place across the day in St. Caddox Church and over at the

01:57amphitheatre just down the road, where many of the Roman re-enactors will be performing.

02:01And if you're heading along, don't forget your toga. One of the fun additions to the

02:07day includes a Roman catwalk where guests can show off their finest ancient fashions.

02:12Absolutely, yeah. I think we pride ourselves on our work, especially with kids, kind of

02:16getting them interested in the past. Made them realise it's not all dry dates and names,

02:20it's not all great battles of history. You can come along here and really get to grips with

02:26an actual real-life Roman past that's all around us here. It's a fantastic experience.

02:31Yeah, yeah, absolutely. You get a real feel for, it can be hard to picture. Sometimes when you're

02:37going around heritage sites or historical sites, it can be hard to picture how things were.

02:42But we do try to, we are lucky with the site, but we do try to make it, you know, a bit of an

02:48experience as well. So even when we're not doing all this, we've got a reconstruction of a barracks

02:53room and then there's some armour to try on so you can feel like a Roman soldier near enough any time.

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