HADRIAN'S WALL

The Roman defences along the border with Scotland started in c.AD80 with the building of Stanegate Road from Carlisle to Corbridge. Along this 7 wooden forts were built including Carlisle, Vindolanda and Corbridge Forts. These were not as effective as had been expected so from AD122 a wall was built from Bowness in the west to Wallsend in the east on the orders of the Emperor Hadrian. It was 80 Roman miles in length (73 miles) and followed a strict pattern of a 60 foot square milecastle or small fort every mile and two 20 foot square turrets or gateways in between each milecastle. From Bowness to Birdoswald the wall was made of turf, 20 foot thick and 15 foot high with wooden forts but with the turrets made of stone. The eastern half was constructed of stone, 8 to 10 foot thick with a deep V-shaped ditch at the front and a second, flat bottomed ditch or vallum with a rampart each side at the rear. The milecastles and turrets continued for a further 40 miles down the Cumbrian coast, but without a wall.

It took until AD160 to complete this massive construction work including rebuilding the turf wall in stone. Initially it was manned from the Stanegate Road Forts, but these were not sufficently close so 17 new stone forts were built into the wall between AD128 and 138. Two of the older forts, Corbridge and Vindolanda were rebuilt in stone as additional support.

The foundations of some of these forts have been excavated and can be visited, the most interesting sites being Vindolanda, Houseteads, Chesters and Corbridge. Sections of the stone walls still stand, particularly near Housesteads, although most of the stone has been removed for local houses and churches.

Most of the sites are managed by English Heritage

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