Hadrian's Wall

 

The Roman emperor Hadrian ordered a wall to be built to mark the northern limit of his empire and to keep out the marauding northern tribes. Building started in AD 122 and the wall remained in use until the Romans left Britain in the 5th century.

The wall stretches from coast to coast across the width of England, a distance of some 73 miles. Every one-third of a mile there was a tower to keep look out and every mile a small fort.

Even today the countryside around the wall is bleak. It must have been one of the least pleasant duties in the Empire to be stationed on the wall.

The wall is less impressive today but much of it remains intact although it is not as high as it once was and the forts are largely reduced to traces of walls.

Vindolanda