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Landmarks

Hadrian's Wall

Hadrian's Wall once gleamed white, with a gateway every Roman mile, and it did more than mark a line: soldiers patrolled it, taxed trade and deterred raiders.

Published

Quick Facts

Location
Across northern England, from Wallsend in Tyne and Wear through Northumberland to the Solway coast in Cumbria
Built
Begun around AD 122 under Emperor Hadrian
Length
80 Roman miles, about 73 miles (118 km)
Original size
Stone sections around 3 metres wide and perhaps 4 to 5 metres high, with a ditch in front
Built by
Roman legionaries from the Second, Sixth and Twentieth Legions
Garrison
Auxiliary troops stationed in forts along the line
Milecastles
Small gateway forts roughly every Roman mile, with two turrets between each pair
Heritage status
UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987, part of Frontiers of the Roman Empire

The wall that was really a border crossing

Picture a Roman soldier on the line in the 120s. Odds are he wasn't just staring north waiting for a barbarian horde. He was checking who wanted to come through. The wall had gateways at every milecastle, so people and goods could cross, but only where the army chose. It was a defended, soldier-patrolled frontier that controlled crossings, helped deter raids and, almost certainly, let the army collect tax on trade. It was also a statement. Hadrian, an emperor fascinated by architecture and consolidating the empire rather than expanding it, wanted the limit of Roman power to be visible, solid and permanent.

Built by soldiers, not slaves

Work began around AD 122, when Hadrian is thought to have visited Britain. The labour was done by legionaries, the Roman army's own engineers, who cut stone, mixed mortar and dug ditches as part of their service. They left their signatures. Building inscriptions record which units built which stretch, a bit like a contractor's sign on a roadside site. The plan changed as it went. The wall was narrowed in places, and forts that were first planned behind it were moved onto the line itself. The western section started out as turf and timber rather than stone, and was rebuilt later.

A white wall in the green hills

Walk it today and it is grey, weathered stone. In Roman times, the wall is generally thought to have been rendered and limewashed, which would have made it pale and striking against the Northumberland landscape. The surviving fabric is only part of the story. Behind the wall ran the Vallum, a huge flat-bottomed ditch with mounds either side, marking a military zone. Between the wall and the Vallum ran the Military Way, a Roman road used to move troops and supplies. The wall's most dramatic stretch is in Northumberland, where it rides the crags of the Whin Sill. Sycamore Gap, Housesteads and Walltown Crags have made this the best-loved part.

Forts, a bathhouse and a very long way from Rome

Housesteads is among the best-preserved Roman forts in Britain, and its communal latrines are a firm favourite with visitors. Chesters has a well-preserved bathhouse beside the North Tyne. Vindolanda, just south of the wall, is famous for the Vindolanda tablets, thin wooden writing slips with everyday messages, including a birthday party invitation. At the eastern end, Segedunum at Wallsend in Tyne and Wear has a viewing tower overlooking the excavated fort remains, and the site also includes a reconstructed Roman bathhouse. The wall was a place where soldiers from across the empire lived, traded and complained about the weather. The Tyne crossing at Newcastle, Pons Aelius, took its name from Hadrian's family name, Aelius.

Myth versus reality

One myth says the wall was built to keep the Scots out. It didn't. Scotland as a kingdom did not exist, and the wall sits well south of today's border. Another says the Romans abandoned it in a hurry. In fact, the empire pushed north to build the Antonine Wall in Scotland in the AD 140s, then fell back to Hadrian's line. The wall remained a frontier for about three centuries. Later centuries took its stones. Medieval and later builders reused them in farms, churches and roads, and in the 18th century General Wade's military road through Northumberland was built using stone from the wall itself. John Clayton, a 19th-century Newcastle lawyer, bought up stretches to protect them, which is a big reason so much survives.

Walking it: what to look for

The Hadrian's Wall Path, a National Trail, runs coast to coast from Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway in Cumbria. Most walkers take about a week. Look for the milecastle gateways, the ditch in front, the Vallum behind, and the way the wall clings to the ridge. At Birdoswald in Cumbria, you can see a fort, a stretch of wall and a great view of the Irthing valley. Bring waterproofs. The central section is exposed, and the weather often feels as unwelcoming as the Romans said it was.

Notable people

  • Emperor Hadrian
  • John Clayton
  • General George Wade
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