Building Stone from Benwell on Hadrian’s Wall
- Audio guide stop: 456
- Gallery: Room 49
- Culture: Romano-British
- Date: 1stC - 2ndC
- Object type: building stone
- Materials: sandstone
- Museum number: OA.250
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is a building stone from Benwell on Hadrian’s Wall, crafted during the 1st to early 2nd century. Buff sandstone was carefully carved to bear a military standard, flanked by the zodiac signs Capricorn and Pegasus. These symbols relate to the Roman army’s Second Legion Augusta, whose base was in Wales but whose units helped construct the Wall.
The inscription "LEG II AVG" appears both on and below the standard, a Latin abbreviation meaning "The Second Legion Augusta (built this)." Pegasus and Capricorn were the军团's emblems, linking this stone to the legion’s role in building the Wall.
This artifact comes from Romano-British culture and was likely uncovered in the 1700s. It is a remarkable window into Roman military identity and the grand engineering effort behind Hadrian’s Wall.
See it in person
Building Stone from Benwell on Hadrian’s Wall is on display in Room 49 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and type its audio guide stop number, 456, from the gallery label, or take a photo of it, to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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