BUGS and spiders have already moved into the modern take on a Roman milecastle now gracing Hadrian’s Wall.

Artist Dawn Felicia Knox and the members of Hadrian Arts Trust, who commissioned the project, are delighted with the results of last week’s labours – the temporary milecastle is a nod to 2,000 years of history made from 8,000 books of the type that recorded it in the first place.

The edifice will stand on Walltown Crags for the rest of the month, during which time Dawn will be recording the natural process of its decay.

“I think a lot of change will have happened today with the first rain,” she said on Monday.

“Cracks are appearing and insects have started taking up residence there, and I’m wondering how fast it will move up the ecological chain.

“Building the structure was only the first part of the process – now the collaborative process with nature begins.”

Her test run for the project took place on an allotment, so she is intrigued about how the decay will progress on this much wilder and more exposed site.

“I’ll be out just about every day filming it,” she said.

An American by birth, but now living in Gateshead with her English husband, her bookish installations have been inspired by her wish to better understand the culture of her adopted homeland and the society her two children are growing up in.

Her latest project, entitled The Simulacrum, sponsored by Northumberland National Park Authority and Arts Council England, not only reflects the defensive structures that once stood on Hadrian’s Wall, but also the literacy and learning that the Romans brought to Britain.

Visitors will be able to see the installation until Friday, October 30, after which it will be dismantled.

The books that are still in a reasonable condition will be recycled, while those that aren’t will go to an incinerator with an energy harvester.

“So they’ll either be turned into paper for new books or a source of energy that goes into people’s homes,” said Dawn.