Great wall of Roman legacy in Britain - Frontiers of the Roman Empire 430
What and Why
Hadrian's Wall (Latin: Vallum Hadriani), stretching across the north of England, is one of the most significant remnants of the Roman Empire (Latin: Imperium Romanum) in the United Kingdom. Constructed on the orders of Emperor Hadrian (né Aelius Hadrianus (Latin)) in 122 CE under 'divine instruction', the wall served as the northern frontier of the Roman Empire against the Picts, what we now refer to as Scotland, and remains an iconic symbol of Roman engineering and military might. One of the key sections of this wall is located near Brampton and attracts thousands of visitors to this small town.
The entire wall originally spanned approximately 120 km (80 Roman miles) from the River Tyne of the East Coast, to the Solway Firth on the West, cutting across the entire British Isle. Its construction involved a series of fortifications, including milecastles, watchtowers, turrets, and larger forts that housed Roman troops. More than 10,000 soldiers garrisoned the entire wall, with a military checkpoint almost every 1.5 km. The section of Hadrian's Wall near Brampton is particularly notable because the nearby main city Carlisle, known as Luguvalium during Roman times, was a major military base.
The wall was supposed to be around 3.7 m (12 feet) high and 3.0 m (10 feet) wide. The wall was reduced to 2.4 m (8 feet) in width in actual constructions. None of the section stands to its original height now, although modern archaeological evacuations have revealed more of its existence.
Against common beliefs, the wall is and has never been the England-Scotland demarcation border, as the wall actually lies entirely within England.
As in our blogged Osterburken, the entire Roman frontier extends all across Europe, literally cutting Europe from its northwest to the mouth of Danube. In a way, this is similar to the Great Wall of China (Chinese: 万里长城, Wanlichangcheng), which was built almost 200 years earlier.
Recent studies have revealed, however, the walls were not really a defence system but more about a show of might, as the justification of such massive economic spend in construction and garrisoning a fixed line of defences like the wall against its reward is questionable. The primary purpose of the wall seemed more to act as a physical barrier to slow the crossing of raiders and thieves, more like a modern barbed wire.
Toponymy
The town name 'Brampton' comes from its Old English name 'Brōm-tūn' meaning 'town of broom (a type of shrub)'.
See
This section includes some of the most intact wall and tower constructions, and they are scattered across a few main sites near the village Gilsland, as the map above shown.
Poltross Burn
One of the best-preserved milecastles on Hadrian's Wall, Poltross Burn Milecastle is unusually large: it contains two barrack blocks, one on either side of a central road. It also includes an oven, an extremely intact staircase to the ramparts walk, and the remains of its north gateway. It has been referred to as the King's Stables previously as it was in the artist's impression below.
Willowford
After Poltross Burn, one has to cross the railway and walk through a farmstead and a school to reach the next section in Willowford. The section exhibits one of the longest standing wall of Hadrian's Wall: a fine 914 m stretch of wall, including two turrets and a bridge tower ruin near River Irthing.
The wall stretches across a few farms. As you can imagine, my son would not be able to conquer the entire wall and I had to carry him along, as below, climbing up and down the terrain.
The ruined bridgetower was supposed to look something like artist's impression as below.
It is indicated that the bridgetower had been reconstructed at least three times, to accommodate for the changing traffic needs of the time. The river is now served by a modern footbridge.
Birdoswald
Birdowald is the end of this particular section. The area was a major Roman military fort built to protect Hadrian's Wall and a crossing of the River Irthing. There is also a Neolithic burial on the site, and the remains of an Anglo-Saxon hall can be seen.
The fort is exceptionally well preserved and is laid out on the traditional rectangular Roman plan. One of the main features of this fort is that there was a drill house so that soldiers could train indoor during the adverse conditions in the region. Apparently this is the only indoor drill house along the entire Roman frontier.
A museum houses displays the artefacts of the nearby wall sections. Interestingly many artefacts indicate that during the time many Roman soldiers stationed along the Hadrian's Wall were a bit lazy and relaxed compared to their disciplined southern counterparts. Many records show that the soldiers would like to escape from the army and rejoin their family. After all this was the northernmost ambit of the Roman Empire and they were really far from home.
Eat and Drink
Cumberland sausage
Cumberland sausage is a local specialty pork sausage that originated in the nearby region of Cumberland and has a history of more than 500 years! The sausage is traditionally very long, up to 0.5 m and usually rolled in a large flat coil.
The meat is chopped, not ground or minced, giving the sausage a fairly chunky and crunchy texture. The dominant seasoning is pepper and thus the sausage is characterised by its lightly heated flavour. In adherence with tradition, no colourings or preservatives are added.
Stay
We stayed in a very traditional inn called String of Horses, apparently founded in mid-17th century CE. Very good stay, high recommended but slightly pricey due to its accessibility to the Hadrian‘s Wall.
Travel Suggestions and Logistics
We drove, but the walls are located along the main road with good services from local buses. The Hadrian's Wall runs almost parallel with the motorway A69 between Carlisle and Newcastle. This stretch of the wall would mark a good day of hiking.
Using Carlisle or Newcastle as a base, one can connect this part of the wall with another WHS, the Lake District, as blogged in Windermere. This will be a good weekend get-away holiday for three to four-day road trip.
UNESCO Inscription
The ‘Roman Limes’ represents the border line of the Roman Empire at its greatest extent in the 2nd century AD. It stretched over 5,000 km from the Atlantic coast of northern Britain, through Europe to the Black Sea, and from there to the Red Sea and across North Africa to the Atlantic coast. The remains of the Limes today consist of vestiges of built walls, ditches, forts, fortresses, watchtowers and civilian settlements. Certain elements of the line have been excavated, some reconstructed and a few destroyed. The two sections of the Limes in Germany cover a length of 550 km from the north-west of the country to the Danube in the south-east. The 118-km-long Hadrian’s Wall (UK) was built on the orders of the Emperor Hadrian c. AD 122 at the northernmost limits of the Roman province of Britannia. It is a striking example of the organization of a military zone and illustrates the defensive techniques and geopolitical strategies of ancient Rome. The Antonine Wall, a 60-km long fortification in Scotland was started by Emperor Antonius Pius in 142 AD as a defense against the “barbarians” of the north. It constitutes the northwestern-most portion of the Roman Limes.
References
Comments
Please share your thoughts and comments about the blog. If you need suggestions to build a travel itinerary, please let me know. More than willing to help. I would also like to build a bespoke-travel community around UNESCO WHS and ICH.
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