Richborough was one of the most important places in Roman Britain. It's where the
Roman army chose to begin their invasion. It became a major port,
welcoming trade and travellers from across the Roman Empire. And for 350 years it was
home to a thriving community right up until the end of Roman rule. There are remains
here of some of the rarest and most spectacular buildings every built by the Romans in Britain.
Hi I'm Andrew and I'm a Properties Historian with English Heritage.
As a Properties Historian I'm responsible for the presentation of English Heritage's
Roman archaeological sites to the public. So for the Richborough project my role
really begins with research. I look at the archaeology of Richborough and try
to see how that fits in with the history of Roman Britain.
Hello I'm Paul and I'm a Senior Historian working with English Heritage.
So when we designed this project we had one simple aim
and that was to put the significance that the Romans held for Richborough back to our
visitors and from that would come this wonderful understanding of what a magnificent place it was.
Hi I'm Dr Kathryn Bedford and I'm Curator of Collections and
Interiors for English Heritage in the South East.
Richborough is a really really interesting site within the history of Roman Britain
because it covers literally the entirety of Roman
Britain. This was one of the main points of invasion in 43 AD and it's also the
last point that the Romans left from so literally all of Roman Britain was here.
Hi my name's Serena and I'm Site Manager here at Richborough Roman Fort and Amphitheatre.
The project has taken 18 months so all the Richborough team here, that's including the
staff and volunteers, are really excited to be reopening after those 18 months.
This exhibition really tells Richborough's story in a way that does justice to the
exceptional significance of this place and how important it was to the history of Roman Britain.
One of
the really significant things about Richborough is that it's the place where the Roman army landed
in AD 43 to begin the conquest of Roman Britain. So it's the start of the whole history of Roman
Britain. We wanted to bring that to people's attention and when you visit the site hitherto
all you saw was some small fragments and it didn't really come home to you how important it was.
So me and a colleague were on site one day while planning the project and we had a bit
of a lightbulb moment almost simultaneously. We thought, let's build a reconstruction of
part of the Roman fortification that was here that the soldiers built when they first landed.
Hello. I'm Roy and I'm a Senior Properties Curator at English Heritage.
As a Properties Curator on this projectI really had three main tasks. One was to
help with the concept design for the reconstruction of the Claudian Gateway.
The second was to make sure we could do that as authentically as possible. And
third and perhaps most important, I had to make sure that whatever we did here
didn't damage the underlying archaeology or spoil the character of the monument.
So our vision was to give visitors a picture, if you like a reconstruction, of what it might have
looked like in Roman times. Because when you come here today, obviously the place is a ruin
and it requires a deal of imagination to understand what it would have been like. So
our task is to make that easier for visitors. When I first walked to the top of the tower when it
was built, not long ago, I could see that it was instantly more apparent and more understandable.
One of the most exciting parts of the project was the excavation in the amphitheatre which
lies a little way to the south of the site. And it was absolutely amazing. We undertook
that work to understand better the underlying structure of the amphitheatre to try and gain
insight into when it was constructed and how it related to the rest of the site.
Archaeology at Richborough tells us an awful lot. There were excavations here in the 1920s
and 30s which have told us so much. But actually it's 100 years since that happened so all of our
data is based upon very old excavations. So what we wanted to do as part of this project was to
have some new archaeology, some new data, so we could reinvigorate the story of Roman Richborough.
That's why we undertook new excavations here which have contributed to what you will see today.
Hi I'm Lauryn, I'm an interpretation manager at English Heritage.
As part of the site refresh, we have installed a brand new panel
scheme for everyone to enjoy. These are a great way to learn more about
the features of the site such as the Mansio and Bath House.
There are certain things which people really need to see when they come to
Richborough. I'm standing in one of them, this amazing new museum with a display of
artifacts from the site which really helps to populate this ancient place.
My responsibility has been focused on the museum and that's looking at which objects
are going to go on display. Richborough has an absolutely fantastic collection so that's been
both a privilege and a challenge. We've really been trying to focus not on the daily life,
the stuff that you tell at any site, but on going into detail into what's happening at Richborough
that's interesting and unusual and that can tell you something about Roman society in general as
well as here. So we've had two really big themes and one of those is connections,
the role of Richborough within the Empire as a whole. And the other is about identity.
My favourite aspect of Richborough's archaeology are the rare remains of what
was once a spectacular monumental arch. It towered above the town at 25 metres high and was clad in
bright white marble imported at great expense from the Emperor's own quarries in Tuscany.
It was a real statement of Roman power and it also marked Richborough out as a special place:
the gateway to the province of Roman Britain. So in the museum you can really get to grips
with the elaborate design and complex engineering of Richborough's archway by
racing against family and friends to construct a scale replica. But you are prevented from cheating
because you have to roll your dice using a replica of a Roman
dice tower that was used by game players at Richborough almost 1,800 years ago.
We have a new audio guide and this is a really interesting way to add more to your visit. So
we've reimagined the traditional audio guide in the style of a contemporary podcast.
So historian and broadcaster Tessa Dunlop and I walk the
site and really try to grasp the depth of history that is here.
Also we've conducted interviews with people who have first hand
knowledge of some of the experiences of building a fort like Richborough.
We've got this brand new museum with a huge number of new objects that have never been seen before,
at least not for several decades. We've got a new audio guide and a
new guidebook. All of the interpretation on site has been completely refreshed and
updated with all the information that has come to us over the last few years,
there's been a lot of research done that means we now see the site in different ways.
So there are so many good reasons to come and visit us here at Richborough. We've got
our brand new shop, our brand new museum and visitor facilities. We've got the fantastic
gateway. It's a great site if you're a dog lover, you can bring your dog on a
lead. It's a great site to sit and have a picnic and just enjoy the ambience.
So if you're visiting Richborough with your family, you might like to pick up one of our
new family trails. These are a really fun way to engage with the stories of the site. You'll
meet different characters along the way and you can even have a go at building your own arches.
I hope that people spend some time looking at all the amazing features from the Roman
period outside of here. The amazing walls of the Roman shore fort, the ditches of the shore
fort, the reconstructed Claudian gateway. Because that will allow visitors to have
an elevated view over the complex archaeology of Richborough and for the first time enable people
to have a much easier understanding of just how important this place is.