Hadrians Wall at Walltown Craggs (Northumberland)
One of the best places of all to see the Wall, snaking and diving along the crags.
Introduction
Hadrian’s Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the UK's most iconic landmarks. Built under the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, the wall snakes 73 miles between Wallsend in the east and Bowness on Solway in the west.
Northumberland is home to the majority of the remaining sections of Hadrian’s Wall and five of the eight excavated forts, including Housesteads and Vindolanda. The county is also home to many miles of tracks along unbroken parts of the wall that dip and swerve over high ground. These paths often provide spectacular views over a landscape largely unchanged since the days of the Roman legions.
Open at all reasonable times all year round.
History to the present day
Construction probably started in AD 122 and was largely completed within six years. Construction started in the east and proceeded westwards, with soldiers from all three of the occupying Roman legions participating in the work. The route chosen largely paralleled the nearby Stanegate road from Luguvalium (Carlisle) to Coria (Corbridge), which was already defended by a system of forts, including Vindolanda. The wall in the east follows the outcrop of a hard, resistant igneous diabase rock escarpment, known as the Whin Sill. The wall incorporated Agricola's Ditch. The wall was constructed primarily to prevent entrance by small bands of raiders or unwanted immigration from the north, not as a fighting line for a major invasion.
