The Coventry Roman Festival is set for the unveiling of the long-missed feature film

The upcoming Coventry Roman Festival will see one of the city’s Roman sites reopen to the public for the first time in a decade. The 30-meter viewing platform above the gate of the Roman Lunt Fort reopens to visitors for this year’s two-day Lunt Roman Festival on August 3 and 4, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

A significant renovation is coming to the ramparts that provide access to the top of the gatehouse – 50 years after it was originally rebuilt in 1974. The gatehouse was rebuilt to mark where a similar structure would once have stood to help the Romans to guard site, which is the only partly reconstructed turf and timber Roman cavalry fort in the country.

The Roman fort of Lunt is also home to the Gyrus – a circular structure believed to be used for cavalry training, which is not found in any other Roman fort. It will host battle re-enactments on horseback for the first time, courtesy of the ARC Cavalry.

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The festival will also see other battle re-enactments performed by costumed performers from Britannia and Vicus – some of whom have appeared in films such as Gladiator and TV shows including Blackadder and Horrible Histories. Elsewhere, the site’s interactive history village will give visitors the chance to follow the ways Romans made various products, including bread, jewelery and painting using earth pigment.

Lunt Roman Fort, which is based in Baginton, is anticipating a record crowd of almost 2,000 people for this year’s festival, having seen steady year-on-year growth for the past seven occasions.

Lisa Ford, head of learning and engagement at CV Life, which operates Lunt Roman Fort, said: “The gate is such a symbolic part of Lunt Roman Fort as the original column posts of this structure led to the whole. the site having originally been discovered in Baginton – so we’re delighted to have it back up and running to its full potential. This year’s festival will be bigger and better than ever, as not only will visitors now be able to take in panoramic views of Coventry and Warwickshire, as the Romans would have done to look out for the enemy, but they will also able to see accurate re-enactments of cavalry battles as well.

“The fort is only open to the general public on certain school holiday days, so the festival is a golden opportunity for families and Roman enthusiasts to come together to learn more about the history of Lunt Roman Fort and what life was like. as in the time of the Romans in AD 60.”

The Lunt Roman Festival has a capacity of up to 1,000 people per day, so people are urged to pre-book online in advance.

Darren Tosh, director of marketing and operations at the South Warwickshire tourism board, Shakespeare’s England, is backing the festival to go from strength to strength.

He added: “Lunt Roman Fort is one of our region’s hidden gems so it’s fantastic to see them expanding their offering in preparation for one of the biggest weekends of the year. Alongside our medieval castles of Warwick and Kenilworth, and home to one of the world’s greatest playwrights, Lunt Roman Fort underlines the broad and proud history of our region, which is so vital to the area’s prosperity.”

Tickets for the Lunt Roman Festival are available from www.luntromanfort.org and are priced at £11.55 for adults and £6.13 for children, with reduced fares available for Go CV card holders.