A charitable project of Nova Roma

As part of its mission to encourage awareness of Roman history and preservation of Roman sites, Nova Roma is appealing to Citizens, friends and others to assist a treasured source of Roman information, now besieged by outside circumstances. Please read the appeal here, and donate whatever you can using the instructions below. All proceeds from this appeal will be donated directly to the Vindolanda Charitable Trust.

Vindolanda, once a Roman fort with an adjoining village, is now a site of historical and archaeological importance to the study of the Roman Empire. Located in the north of England near Hadrian's Wall, it has for many years been home to serious scholarship, including the discovery of many written documents from Roman Britain.

It was here that the famed "birthday invitation," from Claudia Severa was found, the earliest preserved instance of writing in Latin by a woman. Other work at Vindolanda has uncovered fascinating collections of Roman Empire shoes and cloth, greatly adding to the known store of information on these items.

To help support the archaeological work at the site, and to help build awareness of Roman history and culture, the private foundation which administers Vindolanda has also constructed replicas of Roman buildings, including a temple, home and shop, which offer imaginative experiences based on ancient history, and reconstructions of a Roman watchtower and a piece of Hadrian's Wall.

This year, the foot-and-mouth outbreak has drastically reduced tourism to the British countryside, cutting off Vindolanda's chief source of income. The following letter from Robin Birley, director of the Vindolanda Charitable Trust, (used here with the trust's kind permission) describes the problem:

If you have ever enjoyed a visit to Vindolanda, taken part in our exciting excavation or education programmes, or if you have a general interest in our work and are inspired by the wonderful discoveries which emerge from the ground at Roman Vindolanda, we now ask for your support in a time of crisis.

Thirty years of impressive achievements in the areas of archaeology, museums, access and education are severely threatened by the indirect results of the current UK foot and mouth disease crisis.

As an independent charitable Trust, we receive no form of annual revenue other than that which we raise ourselves through admission fees to our sites and sales in our museum shop. We start each year with just enough reserves to fulfil our commitments until our visitor revenue resumes.

As a 'contained' site, with direct access from regular public roads, we have been able to stay open to the public in this crisis. The impression that the whole of our countryside is closed to visitors has, however, seen the cancellation of school and group visits to the end of May and beyond. The general daily visitor figures are grim, and the predicted outlook for 2001 is that we are unlikely to reach more than 50 percent of our projected income.

The entire Vindolanda staff, many of whom have strong ties with local farming families, have accepted immediate emergency measures, and many have volunteered voluntary wage cuts and extra unpaid working hours. All of our capital projects for 2001 have been postponed, with the exception of the excavation and education work, which we are fighting to keep going.

Our estimated deficit through the lack of visitors will be £82,000 [US $118,126] by the end of May. Initiatives to encourage people to return to the countryside will take time to become effective, and we estimate that even with every possible saving, we will have a deficit of some £190,000 [US $273,641] by the end of the 2001 season. The consequences for 2002 are therefore very serious indeed.

We know that we will have to rely upon our own determination to recover, and also upon the goodwill of those who share our aims and objectives - and care about the people of the past and present. Please help us if you can. Any donation to our Appeal fund will be gratefully received and personally acknowledged. Your contribution could make a real difference.

This button will take you to a PayPal site where you can donate by credit card. Donations may also be sent by check or money order to Nova Roma Vindolanda Fund, P.O. Box 1897, Wells, ME 04090 USA.

More on Vindolanda:
Official Vindolanda site
Research on Vindolanda textiles
Romano-British writing tablets
Claudia Severa's "birthday letter"

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