Events & Entertainment, Wimborne | Posted on September 30th, 2026 | return to news

Lost Roman fortress exhibition in Wimborne

Meet the Roman who conquered Dorset and went on to become Emperor.

In AD 43, the Emperor Claudius launched the Roman invasion of Britain. Shortly after, the Second Augustan Legion, 5,000-men strong, had fought its way into Dorset, subduing the local Durotriges tribe in a campaign the Roman historian Suetonius described as more than 30 battles and the capture of over 20 settlements.

The legion’s commander was a general named Vespasian. Some 26 years later, he would become Emperor of Rome until AD 79.

The fortress his legion built on the edge of what is now Wimborne, at Lake Farm, was first discovered in 1959 by archaeologist Norman Field, but its true scale remained unclear until a Bournemouth University survey in 2016 finally revealed the full extent of what lay beneath the fields: a fortress large enough to house an entire legion.

This October, that hidden history comes to the surface. Historic Wimborne CIC, a new volunteer-led community organisation, is staging Uncovering Roman Wimborne with a free, two-day Roman Heritage Weekend at Allendale House, Wimborne, on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October, 10am to 4pm.

The event brings together a public exhibition on the Lake Farm fortress and the Flavian emperors it helped create. With a Roman living history display, hands-on archaeology activities, and a children’s coin design competition.

Organiser, Robert Rodway said: “Many people who live here have no idea there’s a Roman fortress right on our doorstep — and even fewer realise just how big it was. We hope this exhibition gives people a chance to properly understand its scale, and just how significant it was in the Roman invasion of Britain.”