Victrix

'Victrix', Taberna Close, Heddon on the Wall. Photo A Curtis (2018).

A life-size sculpture of a Roman Centurion carved from the trunk of a diseased and dying horse chestnut tree by Consett tree sculptor, Tommy Craggs. It is situated opposite the shops, Dingle Dell cafe and the children's nursery at Taberna Close. The carving took place in October and November 2018, with money for the project raised by a local group, 'Heddon Branches'.

The name comes the Fourth Cohort of the Twentieth Legion, Valeria Victrix (Valiant and Victorious), who are known to have built part of Hadrian's Wall in the Heddon area about 121AD as shown on a building stone found in 1807 in the vicarage at Heddon but now lost.
Twentieth Legion Valeria Victrix

Hexham Courant 1st November 2018

The official unveiling of the statue, hosted by Dingle Dell cafe, was held on 22nd November 2018. On a wet afternoon, the ribbon was cut by local resident Emily Taylor who had painted an inspirational picture featuring a Roman soldier in a tree.

Hexham Courant 28th November 2018

---

'Victrix Thanks All Key Workers'. Dressed in a suitable Coronavirus lockdown T-shirt

Victrix, Heddon on the Wall. Photo taken in May 2021 after the installation of new information board.

"I march alone and gaze afar
across these windswept glades
for sight of those this wall to breach
the hoards who would invade

Though far from home I tread this wall
with hardships yet untold
though days are long and winters cold
its beauty in my soul

Marching men with boots on earth
the sound of thunder brings
faint lights from distant fortress guide
to shelter winter winds

One dawn did break I left this land
no lesson more to learn
though time had chosen I would leave
I vowed I would return

And now once more I cast my gaze
beyond a distant plain
and in this place and from this tree
stood proud I shall remain"

'I Am Victrix' by Edmund McGough (displayed in the window of The Dell (Cafe, Bar & Bistro), Taverna Place, Heddon on the Wall.