This rare 1700 year-old Roman soldier’s full armor shirt is made of more than 50,000 iron links and is the best preserved in Britain.

There are hands on activities for kids too – so please to have these back as they really do make the difference.

I was fascinated to discover this ring-main which dates back almost 2000 years and was discovered right here in the fort. It is the actual shirt and not a replica. I had to double check with staff that what I was looking at was in fact the real deal because I am so used to seeing replicas in museums these days. I can assure you it is, you can get a closer look with a magnifying glass and learn how it was preserved too.

There was a fire at the fort and you can read all about what they suspect happened in the museum.

The museum also does a fantastic job of bringing archaeology to life. I was interested to learn how they could tell that Romans kept cats as pets through some of the animal bones found here.

 
In the second part of the museum you can learn about burials in the fort and surrounding areas and some of the stones that were used / what they can tell us about Roman life. 

There is also a fun interactive quiz to discover whether you belong in Team Britain or Team Roman (Jack is Team Britain).