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‘WATCHERS’ ON HADRIAN’S WALL RECREATE GAME OF THRONES MOMENT
Entering another cold weather front this week, English Heritage at Hadrian’s Wall has equipped staff with Game of Thrones style winter cloaks to protect them from this harshest of winters, as they perform their daily duty of protecting the historic monument that sees over 260,000 visitors each year.
A stretch of Hadrian's Wall in winter
Widely acknowledged by author George R.R. Martin as the inspiration for the popular fantasy series Game of Thrones, (GoT) the black cloaks, worn by the Night’s Watch in the programme, will not only keep staff warm, but will be available for the staunchest of GoT fans to recreate their own favourite ‘wall’ moment at Housesteads Roman Fort in Northumberland.
English Heritage staff at Hadrian's Wall in their cloaks
Comments Carole Keltie, General Manager Hadrian’s Wall;
“We are definitely fans of Game of Thrones here at Hadrian’s Wall and love the fact that this impressive and dramatic landscape has so inspired an author and a whole movement of followers. It’s easy to see how this would have inspired the creation of ‘The Wall’ and we’d definitely recommend more fans come and discover this historic frontier for themselves.”
Comments Frances McIntosh, English Heritage Curator;
“The World Heritage Site of Hadrian’s Wall is one of our most iconic monuments, and for good reason. Over 1,800 years old, it stretches across the country, crossing two counties for 73 miles and at its peak would have been around 5 metres tall and in some places 3 metres wide. It was built to define the northern limit of the civilized Roman Empire, keeping the ‘barbarians’ of the north at bay, a theme familiar in Game of Thrones.”
Housesteads Roman Fort has completed its first full year of daily opening, which began in November 2013. Since then it has seen an additional 22% of visitors on the previous year, when it opened solely on weekends during the winter.
Six cloaks will be available for visitors to wear at Housesteads Roman Fort, in the centre of Hadrian’s Wall, from now until the spring. Visitors are encouraged to post their images and tweet their messages on www.facebook.com/hadrianswall and on Twitter at @EHHadriansWall
