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Hadrian's Wall

The famous defensive barrier in the north of England was first built by order of emperor Hadrian between AD 122 and 128 (though at that time only as an earth fortification ith wooden parapets - the stone work was constructed later). 'Hadrian's Wall' is undoubtedly the most impressive surviving frontier of the empire, running for 80 Roman miles from the inlet of the sea known as the Solway Firth in the west of England to the mouth of the river Tyne in the east.

In regular intervals the wall was guarded by towers and milecastles, creating a chain by which an alarm could be signalled to the nearest forts within minutes. Above a little tower along the wall.

At the fort of Vindolanda two reconstructions illustrate what Hadrian's Wall once must have looked like. Above: the impressive stone walls. Below: the wooden wall, which once spanned across and which was later replaced with the stone wall, but for the western sections