TYNEDALE’S best known Roman site has secured £1.3m in funding which will enable a collection of unique wooden artefacts to go on display.

More than 1,400 wooden objects, including water pipes, axes, potters’ wheels, and a toilet seat, have been excavated at the site, near Bardon Mill, over many years.

The items are currently under lock and key, where they being carefully preserved after being lifted from anaerobic conditions beneath the ground.

But now the items, which also include inscribed barrel staves, are set to go on display in special cases.

The Vindolanda Trust, which runs the site, has received a £1.3m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, which distributes National Lottery funding to projects aimed at preserving the nation’s heritage.

Chairman of the Vindolanda Trust’s development and impact committee, Patricia Birley, said: “Many of these incredible wooden objects, which include building timbers, furniture and a toilet seat, would have remained in storage without the support of the National Lottery.”

The project – Unlocking Vindolanda’s Wooden Underworld – will also enable visitors to hear about the history behind the collection, the research carried out to find out about their origins, and take part in activities.