HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Hadrian's Wall (, also known as the ''Roman Wall'', Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Aelium'' in Latin) is a former defensive
fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...
of the
Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...
of
Britannia The image of Britannia () is the national personification of United Kingdom, Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used by the Romans in classical antiquity, the Latin was the name variously appli ...
, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor
Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...
. Running from
Wallsend Wallsend () is a town in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of ...
on the
River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden, Northumberland, Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The ...
in the east to Bowness-on-Solway in the west of what is now
northern England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...
, it was a stone wall with large ditches in front and behind, stretching across the whole width of the island. Soldiers were garrisoned along the line of the wall in large
forts A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from ...
, smaller milecastles, and intervening turrets. In addition to the wall's defensive military role, its gates may have been
customs Customs is an authority or Government agency, agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling International trade, the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out ...
posts.
Hadrian's Wall Path Hadrian's Wall Path is a long-distance footpath in the north of England, which became the 15th National Trail in 2003. It runs for , from Wallsend on the east coast of England to Bowness-on-Solway on the west coast. For most of its length it ...
generally runs close along the wall. Almost all the standing masonry of the wall was removed in early modern times and used for local roads and farmhouses. None of it stands to its original height, but modern work has exposed much of the footings, and some segments display a few courses of modern masonry reconstruction. Many of the excavated forts on or near the wall are open to the public, and various nearby museums present its history. The largest Roman archaeological feature in Britain, it runs a total of . Regarded as a British cultural icon, Hadrian's Wall is one of Britain's major ancient tourist attractions. It was designated a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
in 1987. The turf-built
Antonine Wall The Antonine Wall () was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. Built some twenty years after Hadrian's Wall to the south ...
of AD 142 in what is now central
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, which briefly superseded Hadrian's Wall before being abandoned, was declared a World Heritage Site in 2008. Hadrian's Wall lies entirely within England and has never formed the
Anglo-Scottish border The Anglo-Scottish border runs for between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west, separating Scotland and England. The Firth of Forth was the border between the Picto- Gaelic Kingdom of Alba and the Angli ...
, though it is sometimes loosely or colloquially described as such.


Dimensions

The length of the wall was 80 Roman miles, equivalent to 73 modern miles; or 117 kilometres (1 Roman mile is equivalent to 1,620 yards; or 1,480 metres). This traversed the entire width of the island, from Bowness-on-Solway in the west to Wallsend on the
River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden, Northumberland, Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The ...
in the east. Not long after construction began, the wall's width was reduced from the originally planned to about , or even less depending on the terrain. Some sections were originally constructed of turf and timber, eventually replaced by stone years or decades later.
Bede Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...
, a monk and historian who died in 735, wrote that the wall stood high, with evidence suggesting it could have been a few feet higher at its formation. Along the length of the wall there was a watch-tower
turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...
every third of a mile, also providing shelter and living accommodation for Roman troops.


Route

Hadrian's Wall extended west from Segedunum at
Wallsend Wallsend () is a town in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of ...
on the
River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden, Northumberland, Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The ...
, via
Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...
and Kirkandrews-on-Eden, to the shore of the
Solway Firth The Solway Firth is an inlet on the west coast of Great Britain, forming part of the border between England and Scotland. The firth (a Scottish term for an inlet of the sea) divides Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) from Dumfries and Gallow ...
, ending a short but unknown distance west of the village of Bowness-on-Solway. The route was slightly north of ''
Stanegate The Stanegate (meaning "stone road" in Northumbrian dialect) was an important Roman road and early frontier built in what is now northern England. It linked many forts including two that guarded important river crossings: Corstopitum (Corbr ...
'', an important Roman road built several decades earlier to link two forts that guarded important river crossings: Corstopitum (
Corbridge Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Northumberland, Halton, Acomb, Northumberland, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe. Etymology Corbridge was k ...
) on the
River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden, Northumberland, Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The ...
and
Luguvalium Luguvalium (or ''Luguvalium Carvetiorum'') was an ancient Roman Empire, Roman city in northern Roman Britain, Britain located within present-day Carlisle, Cumbria, Carlisle, Cumbria, and may have been the capital of the 4th-century Roman provinc ...
(Carlisle) on the River Eden. The modern A69 and B6318 roads follow the course of the wall from
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
to
Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...
, then along the northern coast of
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
(south shore of the
Solway Firth The Solway Firth is an inlet on the west coast of Great Britain, forming part of the border between England and Scotland. The firth (a Scottish term for an inlet of the sea) divides Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) from Dumfries and Gallow ...
). Part of the central section of the wall follows natural cliffs on an
escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...
of the
Whin Sill The Whin Sill or Great Whin Sill is a tabular layer of the igneous rock dolerite in County Durham, Northumberland and Cumbria in the northeast of England. It lies partly in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and partly in N ...
rock formation. Although the curtain wall ends near Bowness-on-Solway, this does not mark the end of the line of defensive structures. The system of milecastles and turrets is known to have continued along the
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
coast as far as Risehow, south of
Maryport Maryport is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is on the coast of the Solway Firth and lies at the northern end of the former Cumberland Co ...
. For classification purposes, the milecastles west of Bowness-on-Solway are referred to as Milefortlets.


Purpose

Hadrian's Wall was probably planned before
Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...
's visit to Britain in 122. According to restored sandstone fragments found in Jarrow which date from 118 or 119, it was Hadrian's wish to keep "intact the empire", which had been imposed on him via "divine instruction". Anthony Everitt, ''Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome'' (2009), Random House, Inc, 448 pages; . On Hadrian's accession to the imperial throne in 117, there was unrest and rebellion in
Roman Britain Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of ''Britannia'' after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. Julius Caes ...
and from the peoples of various conquered lands across the empire, including
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
,
Judea Judea or Judaea (; ; , ; ) is a mountainous region of the Levant. Traditionally dominated by the city of Jerusalem, it is now part of Palestine and Israel. The name's usage is historic, having been used in antiquity and still into the pres ...
,
Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
and
Mauretania Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It extended from central present-day Algeria to the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, encompassing northern present-day Morocco, and from the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean in the ...
. These troubles may have influenced his plan to construct the wall, as well as his construction of frontier boundaries now known as ''limes'' in other areas of the empire, such as the ''
Limes Germanicus The (Latin for ''Germanic frontier''), or 'Germanic Limes', is the name given in modern times to a line of frontier () fortifications that bounded the ancient Roman provinces of Germania Inferior, Germania Superior and Raetia, dividing the Roman ...
'' in modern-day Germany. The novelty of the wall as a departure from traditional Roman military architecture as typified by the Roman ''limes'' has been seen as noteworthy and has led to exceptional suggestions of influence by some scholars, for example D.J Breeze and B. Dobson suggest "Hadrian may have been influenced by travellers' accounts of the
Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' long wall") is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against vario ...
, built some two hundred years before." This proposal has been challenged by other scholars like Duncan Campbell who argues that, though the scale and design of the wall was novel for Roman military construction, "there was a long tradition of wall-building in the ancient (Mediterranean) world upon which he could have drawn for inspiration without the inconvenience of traversing whole continents in search of a prototype." In recent years, despite the overwhelming evidence over its 400 year manned presence, some scholars have disagreed with the established narrative over how much of a threat the inhabitants of northern Britain presented to the Romans, and whether there was any economic advantage in defending and garrisoning a fixed line of defences like the wall, rather than conquering and annexing what has become Northumberland and the
Scottish Lowlands The Lowlands ( or , ; , ) is a cultural and historical region of Scotland. The region is characterised by its relatively flat or gently rolling terrain as opposed to the mountainous landscapes of the Scottish Highlands. This area includes ci ...
and then defending the territory with a looser arrangement of forts. Hadrian and his advisers however produced a solution to their problems that remained relevant for centuries. The primary purpose of the wall was as a physical barrier to slow the crossing of raiders, people intent on crossing its line for animals, treasure, or slaves, and then returning with their loot. The Latin text ''
Historia Augusta The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, Caesar (title), designated heirs and Roman usurper, usurpers from 117 to 284. S ...
'' states: The defensive characteristics of the wall support interpretation, including the pits known as ''cippi'' frequently found on the
berm A berm is a level space, shelf, or raised barrier (usually made of Soil compaction, compacted soil) separating areas in a vertical way, especially partway up a long slope. It can serve as a terrace road, track, path, a fortification line, a b ...
or flat area in front of the wall. These pits held branches or small tree trunks entangled with sharpened branches. These would make an attack on the wall even more difficult. It might be thought of as the Roman equivalent of
barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire or bob wire (in the Southern and Southwestern United States), is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the ...
, a measure to delay an enemy attack and hold the attackers within range of the missiles of the defenders. The curtain wall was not mainly a continuously-embattled defensive line, rather it would deter casual crossing and be an observation point that could alert Romans of an incoming attack and slow down enemy forces so that additional troops could arrive for support. Besides a defensive structure made to keep people out, the wall also kept people within the
Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...
. Movement would be channeled through the gates in the wall, where it could be monitored for
information Information is an Abstraction, abstract concept that refers to something which has the power Communication, to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the Interpretation (philosophy), interpretation (perhaps Interpretation (log ...
, prevented or permitted as appropriate, and taxed. The wall would also have had a psychological impact:
For nearly three centuries, until the end of Roman rule in Britain in 410 AD, Hadrian's Wall was the clearest statement of the might, resourcefulness, and determination of an individual emperor and of his empire.
The wall was also a symbolic statement of Rome's imperial power, marking the border between the so called civilized world and the unconquered barbarian wilderness. As British archaeologist Neil Faulkner explains, "the wall, like other great Roman frontier monuments was as much a propaganda statement as a functional facility". There is some evidence that Hadrian's Wall was originally covered in plaster and then whitewashed: its shining surface would have reflected the sunlight and been visible for miles around.


Construction

Hadrian ended his predecessor
Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...
's policy of expanding the empire and instead focused on defending the current borders, namely at the time Britain. Like Augustus, Hadrian believed in exploiting natural boundaries such as rivers for the borders of the empire, for example the
Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...
,
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
and
Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
. Britain, however, did not have any natural boundaries that could serve the purpose to divide the province controlled by the Romans from the Celtic tribes in the north. With construction starting in 122, the entire length of the wall was built with an alternating series of forts, each housing 600 men, and manned milecastles, operated by "between 12 and 20 men". It took six years to build most of Hadrian's Wall with the work coming from three Roman legions – the
Legio II Augusta Legio II Augusta ( Second Legion "Augustus'") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army that was founded during the late Roman Republic. Its emblems were the Capricornus, Pegasus, and Mars. It may have taken the name "''Augusta''" from a victory ...
, Legio VI Victrix, and
Legio XX Valeria Victrix Legio XX Valeria Victrix, in English the Twentieth Victorious Valeria Legion, was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. The origin of the Legion's name is unclear and there are various theories, but the legion may have gained its title ''Vale ...
, totalling 15,000 soldiers, plus some members of the Roman fleet. The building of the wall was not out of the area of expertise for the soldiers; some would have trained to be surveyors, engineers, masons, and carpenters.


"Broad Wall" and "Narrow Wall"

R. G. Collingwood cites evidence for the existence of a broad section of the wall and conversely a narrow section. He argues that plans changed during construction of the wall, and its overall width was reduced. Broad sections of the wall are around wide with the narrow sections thinner, around wide. Some of the narrow sections were found to be built upon broad foundations, which had presumably been built before the plans changed. Based on this evidence, Collingwood concludes that the wall was originally to be built between present-day
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
at its eastern end and Bowness-on-Solway at its western end, with a uniform width of 10 Roman feet, all in stone. On completion, only three-fifths of the wall was built from stone; the remaining western section was a turf wall, later rebuilt in stone. Plans possibly changed due to a lack of resources. In an effort to preserve resources further, the eastern half's width was therefore reduced from the original ten Roman feet to eight, with the remaining stones from the eastern half used for around of the turf wall in the west. This reduction from the original ten Roman feet to eight created the so-called "Narrow Wall".


Vallum

Just south of the wall there is a deep, ditch-like construction with two parallel mounds running north and south of it, known as the Vallum. The Vallum and the wall run more or less in parallel for almost the entire length of the wall, except between the forts of Newcastle and
Wallsend Wallsend () is a town in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of ...
at the east end, where the Vallum may have been considered superfluous as a barrier on account of the close proximity of the
River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden, Northumberland, Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The ...
. The twin track of the wall and Vallum led many 19th-century thinkers to note and ponder their relation to one another. Some evidence appears to show that the route of the wall was shifted to avoid the Vallum, possibly pointing to the Vallum being an older construction. R. G. Collingwood therefore asserted in 1930 that the Vallum was built before the wall in its final form. Collingwood also questioned whether the Vallum was an original border built before the wall. Based on this, the wall could be viewed as a replacement border built to strengthen the Romans' definition of their territory. In 1936, further research suggested that the Vallum could not have been built before the wall because the Vallum avoided one of the wall's milecastles. This new discovery was continually supported by more evidence, strengthening the idea that there was a simultaneous construction of the Vallum and the wall. Other evidence still pointed in other, slightly different directions. Evidence shows that the Vallum preceded sections of the Narrow Wall specifically; to account for this discrepancy, Couse suggests that either construction of the Vallum began with the Broad Wall, or it began when the Narrow Wall succeeded the Broad Wall but proceeded more quickly than that of the Narrow Wall.


Turf wall

From Milecastle 49 to the western terminus at Bowness-on-Solway, the wall was originally constructed from turf, possibly due to the absence of limestone. Subsequently, the turf wall was demolished and replaced with a stone wall. This took place in two phases; the first (from the River Irthing to a point west of Milecastle 54) during the reign of Hadrian, and the second following the reoccupation of Hadrian's Wall after the abandonment of the
Antonine Wall The Antonine Wall () was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. Built some twenty years after Hadrian's Wall to the south ...
(though it has also been suggested that this second phase took place during the reign of
Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; ; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through cursus honorum, the ...
). The line of the stone wall follows the line of the turf wall, apart from the stretch between Milecastle 49 and Milecastle 51, where the line of the stone wall is slightly further to the north. In the stretch around Milecastle 50TW, it was built on a flat base with three to four courses of turf blocks. A basal layer of cobbles was used westwards from Milecastle 72 (at Burgh-by-Sands) and possibly at Milecastle 53. Where the underlying ground was boggy, wooden piles were used. At its base, the turf wall was wide, built in courses of turf blocks measuring long by deep by high, to a height around . The north face is thought to have had a slope of 75%, whereas the south face is thought to have started vertical above the foundation, quickly becoming much shallower.


Standards

Above the stone curtain wall's foundations, one or more footing courses were laid. Offsets were introduced above these footing courses (on both the north and south faces), which reduced the wall's width. Where the width of the curtain wall is stated, it is in reference to the width above the offset. Two standards of offset have been identified: Standard A, where the offset occurs above the first footing course, and Standard B, where the offset occurs after the third (or sometimes fourth) footing course.


Garrison

It is thought that following construction and when fully manned, almost 10,000 soldiers were stationed on Hadrian's Wall, made up not of the legions who built it but by regiments of auxiliary infantry and cavalry drawn from the provinces. Following from this lays out the two basic functions for soldiers on or around Hadrian's Wall. Breeze says that soldiers who were stationed in the forts around the wall had the primary duty of defence; at the same time, the troops in the milecastles and turrets had the responsibility of frontier control. Evidence, as Breeze says, for soldiers stationed in forts is far more pronounced than the ones in the milecastles and turrets. Breeze discusses three theories about the soldiers on Hadrian's Wall. Firstly, these soldiers who manned the milecastles and turrets on the wall came from the forts near it. Secondly, regiments from auxiliaries were specifically chosen for this role. Thirdly, "a special force" was formed to man these stations. Breeze comes to the conclusion that through all the inscriptions gathered there were soldiers from three, or even four, auxiliary units at milecastles on the wall. These units were "''cohors I Batavorum'', ''cohors I Vardullorum'', an un-numbered
Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...
n cohort, and a ''duplicarius'' from Upper Germany". Breeze adds that there appears to have been some legionaries as well at these milecastles. Breeze states that evidence is "still open on whether" soldiers who manned the milecastles were from nearby forts or were specifically chosen for this task, and he adds that "the balance f evidenceperhaps lies towards the latter". However, soldiers from the three British legions outnumbered the auxiliaries, which goes against the assertion that legionaries would not be used on such detached duties. Further information on the garrisoning of the wall has been provided by the discovery of the
Vindolanda tablets The Vindolanda tablets are some of the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain (antedated by the Bloomberg tablets from Roman London). They are a rich source of information about life on the northern frontier of Roman Britain. Writ ...
just to the south of Hadrian's Wall, such as the record of an inspection on 18 May 92 or 97, when only 456 of the full quota of 756
Belgae The Belgae ( , ) were a large confederation of tribes living in northern Gaul, between the English Channel, the west bank of the Rhine, and the northern bank of the river Seine, from at least the third century BC. They were discussed in depth b ...
troops were present, the rest being sick or otherwise absent.


Social and economic impact


Unified cultural area

By about 200 BC, long before the Romans arrived in Britannia, the zone on both sides of what would become the wall, from
Lothian Lothian (; ; ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, while other signific ...
to the north and the
River Wear The River Wear (, ) in Northern England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers. The Wear wends in a steep valley t ...
to the south, had become dominated by rectilinear enclosures. These were the nuclei of extensive farming settlements at a high level of the social hierarchy, a numerous and widespread nobility; the lower orders lived in groups of round houses that left much less archaeological trace. The wall probably cut across a coherent cultural area, and it was planned and built at a time of serious warfare in Britain, which required major Roman reinforcements from outside Britannia. A tablet from
Vindolanda Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort ('' castrum'') just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, which it pre-dated. Archaeological excavations of the site show it was under Roman occupation from roughly 85 AD to 370 AD. Located near th ...
describes a ''centurio regionarius'' who exercised direct military rule from
Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...
, some 30 years after Roman conquest of the region. Nevertheless, the settlement pattern in the area did not change immediately after the wall was built, and the groups who fought the Romans may have been from previously pacified tribes to the south, or from far north of the wall. The Roman soldiers of the garrison, with their families and other immigrants, may have amounted to some 22-30% of the population of the region. They could not have been supplied entirely from local resources, although any local surpluses would have been taxed or requisitioned. Military conscripts may also have been levied from nearby groups.


South of the wall

To the south, between the wall and the
River Tees The River Tees (), in England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea in the North East of England. The modern-day history of the river has been tied with the industries ...
, Roman-style settlements appear in the early 2nd century, very shortly after the wall was built. This is earlier than Roman villas in Yorkshire further south.
Mortaria A mortarium (pl. "mortaria") was one of a class of Ancient Roman pottery kitchen vessels. They are bowls with thick sides that were likely used for crushing and grinding foodstuffs. They sometimes had grit embedded in the inner surface and a spou ...
stamped with the name were produced at Faverdale, some 80 kilometres south of the wall, and most of those found have come from the fort of Coria. Anaus was probably an immigrant to the area. In 150, a discharge certificate was issued to Velvotigernus, son of Maglotigernus, after 26 year's service in the classis Germanica. It was found near (not in) the Roman fort of Longovicium. Presumably Velvotigernus was from the upper echelons of British society (his father's name means 'Great master'); he chose to settle near Lanchester some 27km south of the wall. This suggests the rapid development of elements of Roman culture both by the local upper classes and by immigrants either attracted by commercial possibilities or officially encouraged to settle.


North of the wall

Northwards a very different picture emerges. A large area of what is now southern Scotland as far as Lothian, and the Northumbrian coastal plain, lost its monumental building tradition of substantial timber roundhouses and earthwork enclosures. Very little late Roman pottery has been found there. The Romans may have cleared a zone of its population, as they are known to have done on the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
and for ten Roman miles beyond the
Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
frontier. Some sites were still occupied; the fort of Burnswark Hill, previously in ruins, was re-occupied about the time that the wall was built. Possibly this represents a short-lived Roman attempt to establish a cooperative authority on this main route further north to
Caledonia Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the forested region in the central and western Scottish Highlands, particularly stretching through parts of what are now Lochaber, Badenoch, Strathspey, and possibly as ...
. Within a few years, the fort was surrounded by Roman camps and bombarded by Roman missiles. It was finally abandoned by about 140. Other sites may have been managed by native groups, probably for the management of livestock and possibly to supply Roman requirements. Pollen evidence suggests that the landscape immediately north of the wall remained generally open, without forest regeneration until the end of Roman rule. At Castle O'er an Iron Age hillfort was given an annexe and a network of ditched and banked boundaries. The sites at
Pegswood Pegswood is a historic Pit village, mining village and civil parish in Northumberland, England, and the site of the former Pegswood Colliery. Pegswood is two miles (3 km) east of Morpeth, Northumberland, Morpeth and three miles (5 km) ...
Moor and St. George's Hospital, Morpeth, also show probable stock enclosures and droveways, far less substantial than the massive Iron Age sites in the area. The site at Huckhoe is the only one in this area to produce evidence of post-Hadrianic domestic residence (Roman coarse pottery, probably containers of high-prestige imported food, as late as the 3rd and possibly 4th centuries), and it may similarly have been mainly concerned with livestock management and delivery.


Limited contact across the wall

In general, and as with other Roman frontier lines, Roman coins and pottery did not move across the wall, and the wall seems to have been an effective barrier to trade. A few elite centres continued to import Roman goods, such as the post-160 samian found at Traprain Law. Ongoing exchange may have been managed at a few specific crossing points (and possibly at specific times of year). One such traditional point may be indicated by the concentration of Roman-period metal objects near Great Whittington, about 2 kilometres north along a Roman road from the Portgate on the wall. The coins, mostly silver rather than bronze and suggesting high-value transactions, indicate activity in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries, a diminution in the Antonine period when the garrison moved north to the Antonine Wall, and recovery in the later 2nd and early 3rd centuries.


After Hadrian

After Hadrian's death in 138, Emperor
Antoninus Pius Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius (; ; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from AD 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held var ...
left the wall occupied in a support role, essentially abandoning it. He began building the Antonine Wall about north, across the
isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...
running west-southwest to east-northeast. This turf wall ran 40 Roman miles, or about , and had more forts than Hadrian's Wall. This area later became known as the
Scottish Lowlands The Lowlands ( or , ; , ) is a cultural and historical region of Scotland. The region is characterised by its relatively flat or gently rolling terrain as opposed to the mountainous landscapes of the Scottish Highlands. This area includes ci ...
, sometimes referred to as the
Central Belt The Central Belt of Scotland is the Demographics of Scotland, area of highest population density within Scotland. Depending on the definition used, it has a population of between 2.4 and 4.2 million (the country's total was around 5.4 million in ...
or
Central Lowlands The Central Lowlands, sometimes called the Midland Valley or Central Valley, is a geologically defined area of relatively low-lying land in southern Scotland. It consists of a rift valley between the Highland Boundary Fault to the north and ...
. Antoninus was unable to conquer the northern tribes, so when
Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...
became emperor, he abandoned the Antonine Wall and reoccupied Hadrian's Wall as the main defensive barrier in 164. In 208–211, Emperor
Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; ; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through cursus honorum, the ...
again tried to conquer Caledonia and temporarily reoccupied the Antonine Wall. The campaign ended inconclusively, and the Romans eventually withdrew to Hadrian's Wall. The early historian
Bede Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...
, following
Gildas Gildas (English pronunciation: , Breton language, Breton: ''Gweltaz''; ) — also known as Gildas Badonicus, Gildas fab Caw (in Middle Welsh texts and antiquarian works) and ''Gildas Sapiens'' (Gildas the Wise) — was a 6th-century Britons (h ...
, wrote (): Bede obviously identifies Gildas's stone wall as Hadrian's Wall, and he appears to have believed that the Vallum was the rampart constructed by Severus. Many centuries would pass before just who built what became apparent. In the same passage, Bede describes Hadrian's Wall as follows: "It is eight feet in breadth, and twelve in height; and, as can be clearly seen to this day, ran straight from east to west." Bede by his own account lived his whole life at Jarrow, just across the River Tyne from the eastern end of the wall at Wallsend, so as he indicates, he would have been very familiar with the wall. Bede does not mention a walkway along the top of the wall. It might be thought likely that there was, but if so it no longer exists. In the late 4th century, barbarian invasions, economic decline and military coups loosened the empire's hold on Britain. By 410, the estimated
end of Roman rule in Britain The end of Roman rule in Britain occurred as the military forces of Roman Britain withdrew to defend or seize the Western Roman Empire's continental core, leaving behind an autonomous post-Roman Britain. In 383, the usurper Magnus Maximus wit ...
, the Roman administration and its legions were gone, and Britain was left to look to its own defences and government. Archaeologists have revealed that some parts of the wall remained occupied well into the 5th century. It has been suggested that some forts continued to be garrisoned by local Britons under the control of a
Coel Hen Coel (Old Welsh: ''Coil''), also called ''Coel Hen'' (Coel the Old) and King Cole, is a figure prominent in Welsh literature and legend since the Middle Ages. Early Welsh tradition knew of a Coel Hen, a 4th-century leader in Roman Britain, Ro ...
figure and former . Hadrian's Wall fell into ruin, and over the centuries the stone was reused in other local buildings. Enough survived in the 7th century for spolia from Hadrian's Wall (illustrated at right) to find its way into the construction of St Paul's Church in Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey, where Bede was a monk. It was presumably incorporated before the setting of the church's dedication stone, still to be seen in the church, dated 23 April 685. The wall fascinated
John Speed John Speed (1551 or 1552 – 28 July 1629) was an English cartographer, chronologer and historian of Cheshire origins.; superseding . The son of a citizen and Merchant Taylor in London,"Life of John Speed", ''The Hibernian Magazine, Or, Compe ...
, who published a set of maps of England and Wales by county at the start of the 17th century. He describes it as "the
Picts The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Scotland in the early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pic ...
Wall" (or "Pictes"; he uses both spellings). ''A map of Newecastle'' (sic), drawn in 1610 by William Matthew, describes it as "Severus' Wall", mistakenly giving it the name ascribed by Bede to the Vallum. Matthew's maps for
Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...
and
Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...
show the wall as a major feature and are ornamented with drawings of Roman finds together with (in the case of the Cumberland map) a
cartouche upalt=A stone face carved with coloured hieroglyphics. Two cartouches - ovoid shapes with hieroglyphics inside - are visible at the bottom., Birth and throne cartouches of Pharaoh KV17.html" ;"title="Seti I, from KV17">Seti I, from KV17 at the ...
in which he sets out a description of the wall.


Preservation by John Clayton

Much of the wall has now disappeared. Long sections of it were used for roadbuilding in the 18th century, especially by
General Wade Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal George Wade (1673 – 14 March 1748) was a British Army officer and politician who served in the Nine Years' War, War of the Spanish Succession, Jacobite rising of 1715 and War of the Quadruple Al ...
to build a military road (most of which lies beneath the present day B6318 " Military Road") to move troops to crush the
Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of t ...
. The preservation of much of what remains can be credited to the antiquarian John Clayton. He trained as a lawyer and became
town clerk A clerk (pronounced "clark" /klɑːk/ in British and Australian English) is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in ma ...
of Newcastle in the 1830s. He became enthusiastic about preserving the wall after inheriting Chesters from his father. To prevent farmers taking stones from the wall, he began buying some of the land on which the wall stood. In 1834, he started purchasing property around Steel Rigg near Crag Lough. Eventually, he controlled land from Brunton to Cawfields. This stretch included the sites of Chesters, Carrawburgh, Housesteads, and
Vindolanda Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort ('' castrum'') just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, which it pre-dated. Archaeological excavations of the site show it was under Roman occupation from roughly 85 AD to 370 AD. Located near th ...
. Clayton carried out excavation at the fort at Cilurnum and at Housesteads, and he excavated some milecastles. Clayton managed the farms he had acquired and succeeded in improving both the land and the livestock. He used the profits from his farms for restoration work. Workmen were employed to restore sections of the wall, generally up to a height of seven courses. The best example of the Clayton Wall is at Housesteads. After Clayton's death, the estate passed to relatives and was soon lost to gambling. Eventually, the
National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...
began acquiring the land on which the wall stands. At Wallington Hall, near Morpeth, there is a painting by William Bell Scott, which shows a
centurion In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion (; , . ; , or ), was a commander, nominally of a century (), a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time; from the 1st century BC ...
supervising the building of the wall. The centurion has been given the face of John Clayton (above right).


Later discoveries

In 2021 workers for Northumbrian Water found a previously undiscovered 3-metre section of the wall while repairing a water main in central
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
. The company announced that the pipe would be "angled to leave a buffer around the excavated trench".


World Heritage Site

Hadrian's Wall was declared a
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
in 1987, and in 2005 it became part of the transnational " Frontiers of the Roman Empire" World Heritage Site, which also includes sites in Germany.


Tourism

Although Hadrian's Wall was declared a
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
in 1987, it remains unguarded, enabling visitors to climb and stand on the wall, although this is not encouraged, as it could damage the historic structure. On 13 March 2010, a public event Illuminating Hadrian's Wall took place, which saw the route of the wall lit with 500 beacons. On 31 August and 2 September 2012, there was a second illumination of the wall as a digital art installation called "Connecting Light", which was part of the
London 2012 Festival The 2012 Cultural Olympiad was a programme of cultural events across the United Kingdom that accompanied the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics. It included 500 events nationwide throughout the UK, spread over four years and culmina ...
. In 2018, the organisations which manage the
Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' long wall") is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against vario ...
and Hadrian's Wall signed an agreement to collaborate for the growth of tourism and for historical and cultural understanding of the monuments.


Hadrian's Wall Path

In 2003, a
National Trail National Trails are long distance footpaths and bridleways in England and Wales. They are administered by Natural England, an agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, UK government, and Natural Resources Wales, a Welsh Government, Welsh ...
footpath was opened that follows the line of the wall from
Wallsend Wallsend () is a town in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of ...
to Bowness-on-Solway. Because of the fragile landscape, walkers are asked to follow the path only in summer.


Roman-period names

Hadrian's Wall was known in the Roman period as the ''vallum'' (wall), and the discovery of the Staffordshire Moorlands Pan in
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...
in 2003 has thrown further light on its name. This copper alloy pan (''trulla'') from the 2nd century is inscribed with a series of four names of Roman forts along the western sector of the wall: owness-on-Solway rumburgh tanwix astlesteads This is followed by the words . Hadrian's family name was ''Aelius'', and the most likely reading of the inscription is ''Valli Aelii'' (
genitive In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...
), Hadrian's Wall, suggesting that the wall was called by the same name by contemporaries. However, another possibility is that it refers to the personal name Aelius Draco. Two bronze vessels that are very similar to the Staffordshire Moorlands Pan are the Rudge Cup, found in
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
in 1725, and the Amiens Skillet, found in
Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...
in northern France in 1949. They also bear the Latin names of Hadrian's Wall forts round their rims, beneath which are representations of a turreted or battlemented wall, thought to depict Hadrian's Wall.


Forts

The Latin and Romano-Celtic names of all of the Hadrian's Wall forts are known, from the ''
Notitia Dignitatum The (Latin for 'List of all dignities and administrations both civil and military') is a document of the Late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. It is unique as one of very ...
'' and other evidence such as inscriptions. They are listed here from east to west, in their Latin and modern English names: * Segedunum (
Wallsend Wallsend () is a town in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of ...
) * Pons Aelius (
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
) * Condercum ( Benwell Hill) * Vindobala ( Rudchester)The suffix "chester" reflects the presence of a Roman
castra ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...
.
* Hunnum (
Halton Chesters Hunnum (also known as Onnum, and with the modern name of Halton Chesters) was a Ancient Rome, Roman castra, fort on Hadrian's Wall located north of the modern-day village of Halton, Northumberland in North East England. It was the fifth fort o ...
) * Cilurnum ( Chesters aka Walwick Chesters) * Procolita ( Carrawburgh) *
Vercovicium Housesteads Roman Fort was an auxiliary fort on Hadrian's Wall, at Housesteads, Northumberland, England. It is dramatically positioned on the end of the -long crag of the Whin Sill over which the Wall runs, overlooking sparsely populated hi ...
( Housesteads) * Aesica ( Great Chesters) * Magnis (Carvoran) * Banna ( Birdoswald) * Camboglanna (Castlesteads) *
Uxelodunum Uxelodunum (with the alternative Roman name of Petriana and the modern name of Stanwix Fort) was a Ancient Rome, Roman castra, fort with associated civilian settlement (''vicus'') in modern-day Carlisle, Cumbria, Carlisle, Cumbria, England. It ...
( Stanwix. Also known as Petriana) * Aballava ( Burgh-by-Sands) * Coggabata ( Drumburgh) * Mais ( Bowness-on-Solway) Turrets on the wall include: * Leahill Turret * Denton Hall Turret Outpost forts beyond the wall include: * Habitancum ( Risingham) * Bremenium ( High Rochester) * Fanum Cocidi ( Bewcastle) (north of Birdoswald) * Ad Fines ( Chew Green) Supply forts behind the wall include: * Alauna (
Maryport Maryport is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is on the coast of the Solway Firth and lies at the northern end of the former Cumberland Co ...
) * Arbeia (
South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was once known in Roman Britain, Roman times as ''Arbeia'' and as ''Caer Urfa'' by the Early Middle Ag ...
) * Coria (
Corbridge Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Northumberland, Halton, Acomb, Northumberland, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe. Etymology Corbridge was k ...
) * Epiacum (Whitley Castle near Alston) *
Vindolanda Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort ('' castrum'') just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, which it pre-dated. Archaeological excavations of the site show it was under Roman occupation from roughly 85 AD to 370 AD. Located near th ...
( Little Chesters or Chesterholm) * Vindomora ( Ebchester)


In popular culture


Books

* '' The Eagle of the Ninth'' is a celebrated children's novel by Rosemary Sutcliff, published in 1954. It tells the story of a young Roman officer venturing north beyond Hadrian's Wall in search of the missing Eagle standard of the lost Ninth Legion. It was inspired by the bronze Silchester eagle found in 1866. The book itself inspired the 2011 film ''The Eagle''. * The Jim Shepard short story collection ''Like You'd Understand Anyway'' (2007) includes a story titled "Hadrian's Wall" which is an imagined account of a clerk living and working during the wall's construction. * Nobel Prize-winning English author
Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...
contributed to the popular image of the "Great Pict Wall" in his short stories about Parnesius, a Roman legionary who defended the wall against the
Picts The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Scotland in the early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pic ...
. These stories are part of the ''
Puck of Pook's Hill ''Puck of Pook's Hill'' is a fantasy book by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1906, containing a series of short stories set in different periods of English history. It can count both as historical fantasy – since some of the stories told of ...
'' anthology, published in 1906. * American author
George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948) also known by the initials G.R.R.M. is an American author, television writer, and television producer. He is best known as the author of the unfinished series of Hi ...
has acknowledged that Hadrian's Wall was the inspiration for
the Wall ''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/ EMI and Columbia/ CBS Records. It is a rock opera which explores Pink, a jaded rock star, as he constructs a psychologic ...
in his best-selling series ''
A Song of Ice and Fire ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is a series of high fantasy novels by the American author George R. R. Martin. Martin began writing the first volume, ''A Game of Thrones'', in 1991, and published it in 1996. Martin, who originally envisioned the ser ...
'', dramatized in the fantasy TV series ''
Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...
'', in which the wall is also in the north of its country and stretches from coast to coast. * In M. J. Trow's fictional ''Britannia'' series, Hadrian's Wall is the central location, and
Coel Hen Coel (Old Welsh: ''Coil''), also called ''Coel Hen'' (Coel the Old) and King Cole, is a figure prominent in Welsh literature and legend since the Middle Ages. Early Welsh tradition knew of a Coel Hen, a 4th-century leader in Roman Britain, Ro ...
and Padarn Beisrudd are portrayed as
limitanei The ''limitanei'' (Latin, also called ''ripenses''), meaning respectively "the soldiers in frontier districts" (from the Latin word '' limes'' meaning frontier) or "the soldiers on the riverbank" (from the Rhine and Danube), were an important par ...
(frontier soldiers). * ''Hadrian's Wall'' by Adrian Goldsworthy is a short history of the wall.


Films

* The 1991 American romantic action adventure film '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' uses Sycamore Gap as a location. Hadrian's Wall still stands tall at the site, but the sycamore tree does not. * The 2011 action drama film ''The Eagle'' tells the story of a young Roman officer setting out across Hadrian's Wall into the uncharted highlands of Caledonia to recover the lost Roman eagle standard of the Ninth Legion. The 2010 film ''Centurion'' tells a similar story. * Hadrian's Wall was also featured as a major focal point of the 2004 film ''
King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...
'', in which one of its primary gates is opened for the first time since its construction to allow Arthur and his knights passage into the north for their quest. The climactic
Battle of Badon The Battle of Badon, also known as the Battle of Mons Badonicus, was purportedly fought between Britons and Anglo-Saxons in Post-Roman Britain during the late 5th or early 6th century. It was credited as a major victory for the Britons, st ...
between the Britons led by
Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...
and his knights, and the Saxons led by
Cerdic Cerdic ( ; ) is described in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' as a leader of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, being the founder and first king of Wessex, reigning from around 519 to 534 AD. Subsequent kings of Wessex were each claimed by the ...
and his son
Cynric Cynric () was King of Wessex from 534 to 560. Everything known about him comes from the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. There, he is stated to have been the son of Cerdic, who is considered the founder of the kingdom of Wessex. However, the Anglian ...
, is set just inside the wall.


Music

* The opening track from
Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment *Maxim (magazine), ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** Maxim (Australia), ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** Maxim (India), ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim ...
's first solo album ''
Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, or Midtown West on real estate listings, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, ...
'' is named "Hadrian's Wall".


Television

* The seventh episode for the eighth season of the documentary television series ''Modern Marvels'' was about Hadrian's Wall. It was released on 1 March 2001.


Poetry

* The English poet W. H. Auden wrote a script for a BBC radio documentary called ''Hadrian's Wall'', which was broadcast on the BBC's north-eastern Regional Programme in 1937. Auden later published a poem from the script, "Roman Wall Blues", in his book ''
Another Time Another Time may refer to: * Another Time (book), ''Another Time'' (book), a 1940 book of poems by W. H. Auden * Another Time (Jeff Williams album), ''Another Time'' (Jeff Williams album), 2011 * Another Time (Earth, Wind & Fire album), ''Another T ...
''. The poem is a brief monologue spoken in the voice of a lonely Roman soldier stationed at the wall.


Video games

* Hadrian's Wall appears in ''
Assassin's Creed Valhalla ''Assassin's Creed Valhalla'' is a 2020 action role-playing game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the twelfth major installment in the ''Assassin's Creed'' series, and the successor to 2018's ''Assassin's Creed Odyss ...
''. The site can be visited by protagonist Eivor of the Raven Clan during the 870s. * Hadrian's Wall appears in '' Crusader Kings III'' as a historical building which provides an economic benefit to the player or AI that controls the province. * The world's first digital reconstruction of the entire Hadrian's Wall system is available for ''Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020''.


Board games

* A board game with the same name was released in 2021, in which you are tasked with the construction and defence of the wall. In 2022 the game was nominated for the American Tabletop Awards in the Strategy Game category.


Gallery

File:Poltross burn milecastle.jpg, Poltross Burn, Milecastle 48, which was built on a steep slope File:Hadrian's Wall at Sycamore Gap - geograph.org.uk - 4593047.jpg, The Sycamore Gap tree, which was felled in 2023 in an act of vandalism (also known as the "
Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...
Tree", because it appeared in the film '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'')Sycamore Gap, a section of the wall between two crests just east of Milecastle 39, is locally known as the "Robin Hood Tree" for its use in the 1991 film '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' (1991). File:Hadrian's Wall with sheep 1.jpg, Hadrian's Wall with sheep File:Hadrians Wall 05.JPG, The remains of the southern
granary A granary, also known as a grain house and historically as a granarium in Latin, is a post-harvest storage building primarily for grains or seeds. Granaries are typically built above the ground to prevent spoilage and protect the stored grains o ...
at Housesteads, showing under-floor pillars to assist ventilation File:Hadrian's Wall reconstruction at Vindolanda.jpg, A modern reconstruction of a short segment of Hadrian's Wall at
Vindolanda Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort ('' castrum'') just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, which it pre-dated. Archaeological excavations of the site show it was under Roman occupation from roughly 85 AD to 370 AD. Located near th ...


See also

*
Danevirke The Danevirke or Danework (modern Danish language, Danish spelling: ''Dannevirke''; in Old Norse language, Old Norse: ''Danavirki'', in German language, German: ''Danewerk'', literally meaning ''Earthworks (archaeology), earthwork of the Danes'') ...
* English Heritage properties *
Gask Ridge The Gask Ridge is the modern name given to an early series of Castra, fortifications, built by the Roman Empire, Romans in Scotland, close to the Highland Boundary Fault, Highland Line. Modern excavation and interpretation has been pioneered by ...
* Hadrianic Society *
History of Cumbria The history of Cumbria as a counties of England, county of England begins with the Local Government Act 1972. Its territory and constituent parts however have a long history under various other Administrative counties of England, administrative ...
*
History of Northumberland Northumberland, England's northernmost county, is a land where Roman Empire, Roman occupiers once guarded a walled frontier, Anglian invaders fought with Celtic natives, and Norman lords built castles to suppress rebellion and defend a contest ...
*
History of Scotland The recorded history of Scotland begins with the Scotland during the Roman Empire, arrival of the Roman Empire in the 1st century, when the Roman province, province of Roman Britain, Britannia reached as far north as the Antonine Wall. No ...
* List of walls *
Offa's Dyke Offa's Dyke () is a large linear Earthworks (Archaeology), earthwork that roughly follows the England–Wales border, border between England and Wales. The structure is named after Offa of Mercia, Offa, the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon king of Mer ...
* Scots' Dike


References


Further reading

* * * Burton, Anthony. ''Hadrian's Wall Path''. 2004. Aurum Press Ltd. . * * * Chaichian, Mohammad. 2014.
Hadrian's Wall: An Ill-Fated strategy for Tribal Management in Roman Britain
, in ''Empires and Walls: Globalization, Migration, and Colonial Domination'' (Brill, pp. 23–52). * Davies, Hunter. ''A Walk along the Wall'', 1974. Weidenfeld & Nicolson: London . * de la Bédoyère, Guy. ''Hadrian's Wall: A History and Guide''. Stroud: Tempus, 1998. . * ''England's Roman Frontier: Discovering Carlisle and Hadrian's Wall Country''. Hadrian's Wall Heritage Ltd and Carlisle Tourism Partnership. 2010. * Forde-Johnston, James L. ''Hadrian's Wall''. London: Michael Joseph, 1978. . * Hadrian's Wall Path (map). Harvey, 12–22 Main Street, Doune, Perthshire FK16 6BJ
harveymaps.co.uk
* * * Moffat, Alistair, ''The Wall''. 2008. Birlinn Limited Press. . * * Speed, John – A set of Speed's maps were issued bound in a single volume in 1988 in association with the British Library and with an introduction by
Nigel Nicolson Nigel Nicolson (19 January 1917 – 23 September 2004) was an English writer, publisher and politician. Early life and education Nicolson was the second son of writers Sir Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West; he had an elder brother Bene ...
as ''The Counties of Britain: A Tudor Atlas by John Speed''. * * Tomlin, R. S. O., "Inscriptions" in ''Britannia'' (2004), vol. xxxv, pp. 344–345 (the Staffordshire Moorlands cup naming the Wall). * Wilson, Roger J. A., ''A Guide to the Roman Remains in Britain''. London: Constable & Company, 1980; .


External links


In Our Time Radio series with Greg Woolf, Professor of Ancient History at the University of St Andrews, David Breeze, Former Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Scotland and Visiting Professor of Archaeology at the University of Durham and Lindsay Allason-Jones OBE, FSA, FSA Scot, Former Reader in Roman Material Culture at the University of Newcastle

Hadrian's Wall on the Official Northumberland Visitor website

Hadrian's Wall Discussion Forum

UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire

News on the Wall path



iRomans
ebsite with interactive map of Cumbrian section of Hadrian Wall
Well illustrated account of sites along Hadrian's Wall
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadrian's Wall 122 establishments 128 establishments 120s establishments in the Roman Empire 2nd-century establishments in Roman Britain 2nd-century fortifications Buildings and structures in Roman Britain Anglo-Scottish border Archaeological sites in Cumbria Archaeological sites in Northumberland Archaeological sites in Tyne and Wear Border barriers Buildings and structures completed in the 2nd century Buildings and structures in Cumbria Buildings and structures in Northumberland Buildings and structures in Tyne and Wear English Heritage sites in Cumbria English Heritage sites in Northumberland English Heritage sites in Tyne and Wear Fortification lines Military history of Cumbria Military history of Northumberland Military history of Tyne and Wear Nerva–Antonine dynasty Northern England H Roman fortifications in England Roman frontiers Fortifications in Roman Britain Roman sites in Cumbria Roman sites in Northumberland Roman walls in England Ruins in Cumbria Ruins in Northumberland Tourist attractions in Cumbria Tourist attractions in Northumberland Tourist attractions in Tyne and Wear Walls World Heritage Sites in England