When they arrived here the Roman’s were perplexed by the Brits, who painted their skin and were often drunk. Now, millennia after they went back home, the invaders’ great wall snakes into the far distance, 73 miles from coast to coast, built on top of the Great Whin Sill’s hard black dolerite spine.
It is eerily beautiful. Hadrian’s Wall is an astonishing feat of engineering too, marking the northern boundary of the Roman Empire for three centuries before being abandoned in 410 AD.
The wall still resonates with the Romans’ brutal power. Some believe it was once whitewashed, making it visible far and wide, which must’ve been truly alarming. And it sits in a unique landscape so lovely it brings tears to the eyes. So what’s in store for your visit to Hadrian’s Wall? Prepare for a mind-blowing visual feast along with a load of world-class ancient Roman attractions.
The romance of Hadrian’s Wall
Hadrian’s Wall is remarkably well preserved, studded with the remains of forts and towns, stuffed with exciting Roman artefacts and set in stunning landscapes. When a collection of twenty five Roman letters was found at Vindolanda the wall burst to vibrant life. Now there are 1700 of them and they’re still turning up.
The letters complained about the weather, the food, missing family back in Rome itself and the sheer boredom of life in remote border towns surrounded by hostile locals. They planned parties, had affairs, did the stuff humans have always done and will probably always do, and their voices echo down the centuries in this place.
One written invitation to a birthday party held in the year 100 or so, below, is probably the oldest document written in Latin by a woman. They’re held at the British Museum now but you can see a few of them at Vindolanda.
“ On the third day before the Ides of September, sister, for the day of the celebration of my birthday, I give you a warm invitation to make sure that you come to us, to make the day more enjoyable for me by your arrival, if you are present. Give my greetings to your Cerialis. My Aelius and my little son send their greetings. I shall expect you sister. Farewell, sister my dearest soul, as I hope to prosper, and hail.”
Building the wall – Forts, turrets and outposts
Building began in the year AD 122, sending the great wall marching from Wallsend on the River Tyne to Bowness-on-Solway. Soldiers lived along the wall in forts and watchtowers, their families living in towns strung along the wall. Then there were a load of outposts. Together they give you endless opportunities to track the Romans around the northern lands they once dominated. All of these places are worth a visit:
- Aballava (Burgh-by-Sands)
- Ad Fines (Chew Green)
- Aesica (Great Chesters)
- Alauna (Maryport)
- Arbeia (South Shields)
- Banna (Birdoswald)
- Bremenium (High Rochester)
- Camboglanna (Castlesteads)
- Cilurnum (Chesters, aka Walwick Chesters)
- Coggabata (Drumburgh)
- Condercum (Benwell Hill)
- Coria (Corbridge)
- Denton Hall Turret
- Epiacum (Whitley Castle near Alston)
- Fanum Cocidi (Bewcastle, north of Birdoswald)
- Habitancum (Risingham)
- Hunnum (Halton Chesters)
- Leahill Turret
- Magnis (Carvoran)
- Mais (Bowness-on-Solway)
- Pons Aelius (Newcastle upon Tyne)
- Procolita (Carrawburgh)
- Segedunum (Wallsend)
- Uxelodunum (Stanwix, aka Petriana)
- Vercovicium (Housesteads)
- Vindobala (Rudchester)
- Vindolanda (Little Chesters or Chesterholm)
- Vindomora (Ebchester)
This cultural icon is one of the country’s best-loved ancient tourist attractions, made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. You can’t actually walk on the wall. If every visitor did that it’d be worn flat in a few decades. But you get the sheer grandeur of this structure from the brilliant official path running parallel to it. While it isn’t as high as it originally was thanks to people over the millennia nicking stones to build with, it remains incredibly impressive, evoking the Romans in a way few other places do.
Many of the forts are open to the public and a variety of cool museums along the way weave the wall’s epic story.
Hauntings and mysteries around Hadrian’s Wall
Cawfields Milecastle was probably built by a man called Legio Secunda Augusta, and some say it’s haunted by a Roman Legionaire. Apparently he appears in Roman armour and has been seen in daytime, standing in the air at the wall’s original height of 5-6m.
As the story goes he was a sentry based at Milecastle 42, madly in love with a Brit whose brother smuggled goods over the wall. She was only with him for the intel, so she could warn her brother about patrols. When her brother was caught he told his captors the soldier was in on it, and he killed himself when he realised his lover didn’t actually love him. True or false? Nobody knows.
There’s another great story, this time about the strange disappearance of Rome’s Ninth Legion in the area. Some say the best theory so far is that five thousand of Rome’s most talented soldiers got lost in Scotland’s eerie mists as they headed north to stop a rebellion, as in the movie The Eagle. Experts say it’s more likely they were transferred to the Middle East where they were slaughtered by the Persians.
UK day tours to Hadrian’s Wall
Here are some fabulous Hadrian’s Wall day tours and experiences to enjoy.
- Housesteads is Britain’s most complete Roman fort, giving you a clear picture of the way people lived
- Corbridge Roman Town is where they found the famous Corbridge hoard, and there’s an ancient high street to wander along
- Chesters Calavry Fort has a wonderfully-preserved bath house and a museum to explore
- Birdoswald Roman Fort is where you find the longest remaining stretch of wall along with insight into how they built it
- Walk the Birdoswald Trail, Housesteads Trail, Chesters Trail and Corbridge Trail
- Visit the Temple of Mithras
The Brits never stopped fighting the Romans. While many of us collaborated, married into Roman families and benefited from their way of life, there were always rebels. Hadrian’s Wall might not be a barrier any more, no longer a tool of oppression and control, but it still impacts us. In March 2010 people lit five hundred beacons along the wall to commemorate the 1600th anniversary of the end of Roman rule in Britain. Clearly our freedom still matters.
So… set yourself free in the far north of England and immerse yourself in the romance of ancient Rome!
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