HADRIAN'S WALL		Quality of Remains
		Ease of Access
		Atmosphere & Setting

This page will continue to grow and change as I collect shots of various parts of the wall. While I have visited almost the entire length of Hadrian's perimeter, I have curiously few photographs to show for it.

History:

There have been numerous northern frontiers during the Roman occupation of Britain. The earliest included the so-called Gask Ridge and the Stanegate frontier, and later Hadrian's wall and the Antonine Wall. Here we are concerned with the Stanegate and Hadrian's Wall. The Stanegate was the first frontier between the Tyne and the Solway Firth, and consisted of a military road with forts spaced along its length, including those of Corbridge, Vindolanda, Carvoran and Carlisle, along with others. This dates from the campaigns of Agricola in 80AD and is inextricably entwined with the history of the wall, as the forts were reused as part of Hadrian's defensive perimeter. In AD122, during his visit to Britain, the Emperor Hadrian planned a new kind of frontier here: a wall with forts spaced along it, partially to cut the rebellious Brigantes off from their allies in the north, and partially as a trade barrier and political statement. There may be some truth to the suggestion that a strong reason for its construction was to keep the Legions busy and in shape in a period of relative peace. In essence, the frontier consisted of a wall 80 Roman miles long, from coast to coast, with a ditch running in front and the Vallum behind, a large ditch flanked by raised banks. Along the wall were small fortifications every mile (known now as milecastles) and between these would be two turrets. Each of these installations was to be permanently manned by troops brought up from the nearby Stanegate forts. A military road, running almost parallel to the Stanegate, ran behind the wall, linking all the installations together. In addition to this a number of forts were built to the north of the wall, mostly one day's march away and linked by road as advance posts in the northern territories. These advance forts may also have been designed to keep the peace in the region north of the wall. Finally, an extension of the wall (known as the Western Sea Defences) carried on around the Cumbrian coast as far as Ravenglass. This extension was an earth wall with ditches and the familiar milecastle and turret system. The original plan was for a wall ten feet thick, and the foundations for this wall were laid along much of the length before a decision was made to reduce the wall to eight feet and then to six, perhaps to shorten construction time. The result is that the eastern stretches of wall are often ten feet, while further towards the west, thinner wall can be seen standing atop a ten foot foundation. Moreover, from the fort of Birdoswald onward, the wall was completed as a turf wall and palisade. The reason for this is unclear, though it may be down to construction time or lack of appropriate local materials. Either way, this turf wall was gradually replaced in stone on a slightly different alignment and looking from the west gate of Birdoswald it is possible to see both walls veering off. The wall itself, along with all the installations on it, were completed by the three legions stationed in Britain, the 2nd Augusta, 6th Victrix and 20th Valeria Victrix, and all three legions have left their mark in the form of stones commemorating the lengths of wall they had constructed. At some point during the early stages of construction, it appears that the system of milecastles and turrets were proving inadequate and the decision was made to build a new set of forts along the wall itself. These are the now famous forts on the wall and once they were completed, the importance of the Stanegate forts waned considerably. Behind these forts, a causeway was left across the vallum to carry a road in to the frontier, though the only surviving evidence of this is at the Benwell site.

The wall, as constructed by Hadrian, remained in use only for a relatively short time as his successor, Antoninus Pius, moved the frontier to the line of the Firth of Forth and the Clyde. The Antonine wall became the new frontier and the troops along Hadrian's wall were reorganised with many being sent north. It would be inaccurate to say that the whole system was abandoned at this time, as there were still caretaker garrisons in many of the forts, but the emphasis as a frontier was moved. This wall was begun in AD142 and served for only around 2 decades before it was abandoned and the frontier pulled back once more to Hadrian's Wall. Once again the troops were reorganised and the forts on the wall and the Stanegate became important. Things settle then for around forty years until the Emperor Septimius Severus campaigns in Scotland and the wall is seriously reorganised, with troop movements, alterations to the nature of forts (for instance the expansion of South Shields into a major supply base.) Many of the repair and rebuilding works attested along the wall belong to this period. After these campaigns things settle once more until the Scottish campaigns of Constantius, when reorganisation and repair occurs once more. From this period on, however, the wall falls into decline. The withdrawal of much of the military to serve against usurpers on the mainland left the wall badly defended and from the beginning of the fourth century, uniformity and care seems to slacken. By the time the Roman influence was withdrawn from Britain, the wall was already in decay in places and without Roman support it became a series of forts occupied by mercenary bands and groups of brigands. From that point on the stones began to be robbed to construct farms and castles and it was only with the advent of Victorian antiquarianism that interest in preserving the wall began. Andrew Clayton, who owned the great house at Chesters, went about buying all the fortifications along the wall he could, and carried out many excavations. The remains we can now see on the wall owe their survival to the interest of Clayton and men like him and now, with the wall being made a World Heritage Site and the money being ploughed into the tourism of the area, preservation and excavation are happening once more.

Occupation:

Little need be said about the occupation of the wall itself as the units are dealt with under the individual forts. Each turret and milecastle was manned by small detatchments of auxiliaries from the nearby forts. For details of the forts themselves and those of the earlier Stanegate frontier, click below:

Remains and Visit:

Among the many sites at which the wall itself is visible, I have details for:

Polross Burn. This is the best preserved milecastle anywhere on the wall, lying beside the railway tracks at Gilsland. On a surprisingly sharp slope, the defensive circuit is well preserved, the internal buildings have survived, a small stretch of Hadrian's Wall juts out to show the original line, the verandas of the buildings have been marked out, there are ovens visible and even the flight of stairs that led from the milecastle up to the wall itself.

Willowford. Here (at the other side of Gilsland from Poltross Burn) lies a well-preserved section of wall over half a mile long. This section clearly shows the narrow wall having been constructed on the foundations for the broad wall and contains two well-preserved turrets. At the end of the walk, down by the river Irthing, lies one of only three preserved Roman bridge abutments in Britain (the others being at Piercebridge and Chesters.) There is evidence here for three different phases of the bridge that carried Hadrian's Wall across the Irthing, and display signs detail the history of the three.

Hare Hill. A short stretch of wall at the relatively unknown location of Hare Hill (north of Brampton) stands the highest anywhere between the coasts. Though the preserved wall here is only perhaps 15ft long it stands 9ft high and has had the facing stones replaced in their original position. My friend Dave stands next to the wall in the photo below to give some idea of the height.

Vallum. Currently the vallum photo shows a stretch close by Carrawburgh fort that gives a good impression of its size and shape.

Added below are a few images from our visit in March for the 'Illuminating Hadrian's Wall' Event to mark the 1,600th anniversary of the end of Roman Britain. These images were taken at Steel Rigg, one of the best bits of the wall, where it was rather cold, but very impressive!

Images:

Poltross Burn Milecastle	Poltross Burn Oven	Poltross Burn Stairs	Hare Hill	The Vallum
Willowford Wall	Willowford Turret	Willowford Bridge	Steel Rigg	Illuminating the Wall 2010
Illuminating the Wall 2010	Illuminating the Wall 2010